


Accel America: Rise of the Conclave

by Axar21



Series: Accel America [1]
Category: Accel World
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-24 11:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 44,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30071730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Axar21/pseuds/Axar21
Summary: The story of Rick Billings, a thirteen year old kid living in New York who gets introduced to the hidden VR game Brain Burst! Posting for a friend of mine.
Series: Accel America [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2212443
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue and Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for choosing to read my humble little story about what could happen if the world of Brain Burst ever reached the shores of the United States. If you're familiar with the original story of Accel World, then you should have no problem Full Diving into the story. If you're not, then enjoy it and I hope it encourages you to read the originals! 
> 
> It should be noted that I did not create the game of Brain Burst, the amazing quantum computer the Neurolinker, or the concept of Burst Linkers. Those were all created by the amazing Reki Kawahara and you should give all credit to him. I just created these characters and this story using his original concept. 
> 
> Again, thank you for reading. I would enjoy feedback, both positive and constructive. If you're just going to flame or troll then please comment elsewhere, but for those of you who have suggestions that would help my writing, then please say something! I'm posting here in an effort to help better my writing abilities. That said, I hope you have a pleasant trip into the Accelerated World! -Quovatimus

Prologue

Rick Billings was normal. Painfully, boringly normal. 

Not the everyday normal. More a “so normal you blend into a wall and wouldn’t be noticed even if you were on fire” type of normal. From the top of his dusty brown hair to the bottom of his feet there existed only a solid bland appearance. 

It wasn’t as if he didn’t try to stand out; at least at first. From the clothes he wore to the way he had his hair cut or styled he had tried desperately to shed his constant state of “blah”. 

At school he wasn’t popular but then again, he wasn’t an outcast either. He was just sort of noticed by peers, their attitudes not going one way or the other as if he wasn’t worth the effort. He wasn’t fat nor skinny and nobody could say he was attractive, but he certainly wasn’t ugly either. 

He just was. 

In fact, Rick only had one feature that could be called unique: his eyes. 

They were a strange aquarian color, an unusual glowing blue almost. But as time went by and Rick realized he would never stand out in a crowd or be the center of attention, he tried to hide his unique, interesting eyes. They certainly didn’t match his otherwise bland skin tone and extra-average height/weight ratio for the “normal” American thirteen-year-old. Keeping his bangs low and eyes half-closed allowed him to hide the eyes he didn’t want anyone to see. 

The only person he considered a real friend was a girl he’d known since kindergarten, Lisa Pak. He wasn’t quite sure why she was a friend; after all, all she did as complain about how boring he was. Or maybe that’s just what he heard. But somehow, she could see past the bland that he exuded and see him. 

And after thirteen years of being ignored Rick tended to find any kind of attention on him a little unnerving, or so he claimed. In truth he wanted to be seen, be noticed. Unfortunately, he had no talent, no athletic ability, and only average grades. As far as he was concerned, he couldn’t be noticed if he tried. 

The normal always won. 

Whenever Rick and Lisa rode home together on the school bus (a rarity since Lisa played both soccer and volleyball) she would point out all of the little things he could change; things that anyone could do. Everything from changing the color of his beige neurolinker to dying his hair or shaving bald so others could see his eyes. She felt he was simply trying to be bland and boring. 

And after thirteen years she was right. He saw no reason to stand out. He’d already resigned himself to his obscurity. Clearly nature intended for him to be normal and who was he to argue with nature? It was a losing argument every time. 

The only thing Rick considered himself good at were classic video games. Not the current VR holographic games popular with people these days but games that required good hand-eye coordinate and fast reflexes. The adrenaline rush he got from a good 2-D fighter or a real-time strategy game couldn’t be beat. What little bit of money he had would always go into a new game to download onto his neurolinker. This was another point Lisa teased him about. She always claimed he was born forty years late. 

She might have been right. Rick enjoyed all the modern luxuries of 2053 but always felt like he didn’t fit the time. Or the place. New York City was a daunting place to live after all. 

Chapter 1

March 3, 2053; 3:55 PM.

Rick sat on his bedroom floor, his back against his bed his eyes on the AR display in front of him. He was alone in his apartment, his father’s odd work hours totally normal. He knew he needed to do his homework, but Lisa had issued a challenge and there was money involved. And he never turned down free money.

His display wasn’t the normal type of VR games others his age played. Instead, to his vision it looked like there was a large television screen on the top of his dresser and he was playing a game from forty years ago on its monitor. Pixilated game sprites bounced to and fro, from one side of the screen to the other until a small explosion broke up the action and a victory fanfare sounded.

Switching his neurolinker to standby mode the AR display vanished. He stretched, then grabbed a small mobile phone from his bedside table and dialed a number. He could’ve called using his neurolinker but that was expensive. Not as expensive as a full dive call but pricey enough. He and his father didn’t have money like that.

Lisa picked up on the second ring. She didn’t own a handheld phone so he knew she was speaking via her neurolinker’s wireless phone connection. Her AR display would give her all the call information she should need to choose whether or not to accept the call.

“Sup Rick?” she asked, yawning. “No backing out on our deal now.” She sounded a little irritated, like she had just woken up. But then again, she had been kind of grouchy the past week or so. He had the tact not to ask; if she needed to vent to him, she knew he was always willing to listen.

“Yo. I did it.”

Silence.

“You there?”

“I call BS,” she replied.

“I’m serious,” he said calmly. “Less than ten minutes. I actually beat my old record by more than two minutes. I’m kind of surprised myself.”

“And you have proof?” She actually sounded slightly more grumpy now. What was this?

“Not that I should need it,” he growled, “but yes. I’m emailing the screenshot as soon as I get off the phone. That’ll be twenty bucks.”

“Oh, come on,” she complained.

“Come on nothing,” Rick bit back. “It’s only twenty bucks.”

“Oh, all right, fine,” she sighed. “I have something I need to show you anyway. Come on over. My folks won’t be back until around six or so.”

“Why should that matter?” Rick asked. Now he was worried. The last time Lisa had “found” something to show him she had a stray cat that proceeded to destroy all the furniture in her room. “It’s not…”

“No!” she snapped, “It’s not an animal I promise.”

“I’m just asking,” he said defensively. “I mean last time-”

“Last time I was twelve!”

“That was just last year you know.”

“Just get over here, before I change my mind,” she said testily before hanging up; or disconnecting in her case.

Rick sighed and stood, slipping the phone into his pocket. He knew he shouldn’t have prodded like that what with Lisa’s mood the past week. Maybe this had something to do with it? He certainly hoped so. It would be good to get the happy, hyper Lisa back,

He stepped out of his apartment building into a surprisingly warm March afternoon. Usually, New York still felt like it was in the clutches of Old Man Winter, but the past three days had been in the mid-seventies. Granted, it had also rained the last two days so puddles in the street were dotted here and there.

Lisa’s apartment building was close to his; so close they could almost take the same school bus home. He strolled down 23rd street and turned onto Park Avenue and two blocks later, he stood in front of her much nicer abode. Looking up he noticed the small black camera that recorded everything; the CSN camera.

They were such a common sight that it was easy to overlook. He didn’t even want to consider how much they cost the taxpayers, considering the number of cameras it took to blanket the city. Any and all public places anyway.

Apparently, Japan had similar cameras installed across Tokyo and due to the advanced facial recognition software crime rates dropped so massively everyone assumed it was a mistake.

It wasn’t.

America on the other hand, had long conversations about rights of privacy and how much security is too much security and so forth until finally Congress agreed to install cameras in America’s largest cities on a trial basis, using the same camera and software company that Japan had used. The cities of Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, and New York were selected.

In Japan, the camera network was called Social Security Cameras or some such thing but here in the good ol’ U.S. of A, they were called the Civil Liberty Security Network or CSN. Of course, most people called them Big Brother and continued with their day.

Rick didn’t really care one way or the other since he couldn’t remember much from before the cameras were installed anyway. As far as he was concerned, it was totally normal to be viewed by the camera’s A.I. If it detected a crime, it sent a ticket to your address or the police to your location. Considering how his mother had died, he was extra glad the cameras could catch pictures of license plates off of cars as well.

And the cameras worked.

Crime rates in all of the cities dropped by nearly fifty percent. Obviously, the network wasn’t perfect. False identifications had been made, especially at the start, and not every corner of ever street and alley could be monitored. Resourceful criminals could find camera dead spots and continue business as usual but by and large, it was much less likely to be caught in a gang shoot out.

Due to this, cameras were implemented in other cities with hopes of similar results, though those had only been installed in the last two years so data was still incoming.

Rick hit the doorbell to Lisa’s apartment, and she buzzed him in without a word. In the lobby elevator he hit the 5 button and tried to relax but thoughts of what might be waiting started to worry him again. So instead, he focused on himself.

That was also a pretty bad idea. He knew that at thirteen years of age he still had plenty of life to live but his own physical blandness might force life to simply skip right over him. And that, of course, was his greatest fear.

But it wouldn’t surprise him in the least.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that when the elevator doors opened, he thought he was in his own apartment building. Blinking, he recognized the truth and stepped into the hallway shaking his head. This was why he tried not to think that often. The hall was lined with plush carpet with bright, energy efficient light bulbs; much nicer than the low rent apartment Rick and his dad lived in.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door to apartment 522A. He would have loved to live in an apartment building like this, but he couldn’t blame his father; he did the best he could, but he could only do so much without a college education.

The door opened and Lisa Pak cleared her throat as Rick was, again, lost in his own thoughts.

“You gonna come in?” she asked annoyed.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, stepping past his only real friend. She wore cut-off jean shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt with an elaborate charcoal sketch of Freddie Mercury on it that was two sizes too big for her. Dark blue, almost purple socks completed the outfit. Surprisingly, the socks matched the color of her neurolinker perfectly. Was that normal?

Rick removed his shoes - an absolute rule that Lisa’s Korean father insisted on - and walked with Lisa to her room. Her glossy black hair and obviously Asiatic feature favored her father but her strong jawline and height – 5’11” at thirteen - were all thanks to her all-American mother.

“You seem a little more on edge than usual Ricky,” she said as they sat on the floor of her room.

“Look who’s talking Leese,” he shot back. He hadn’t been “Ricky” since first grade. “You gonna spill why you’ve been so grouchy this past week?”

She looked down at the floor at that and was silent for a few seconds. “Anyway,” she said a moment later, “See? As promised, no animals.” She spread her arms.

“That cat was pissed.”

“Poor Roscoe,” she moaned.

“You had that hell spawn for a single afternoon and you gave it a name? And that name was Roscoe? Jeez, I’d be pissed at you too!”

Lisa cracked a smile. “Yeah… you want a soda or anything?”

“I’d like my twenty dollars,” Rick replied.

She groaned. “Lay off the cash all right? I have something that’s one hundred thousand times better than money.”

Rick Lifted an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”

Lisa punched him in the arm. “It’s not that and I’m not that kind of girl!”

He shrugged. “I’m just saying; I know a nosey, diary reading kitty that read differently.”

She punched him harder. “You wish”

“So, what is it then? What’s your big thing to show off?”

This seemed to give Lisa pause. She looked nervous and hesitant which were not words people usually used to describe Lisa Pak. After a few uncomfortable seconds, she took a deep breath and sat up straight looking Rick in the eyes.

He looked back; blue green eyes unblinking. He knew then that whatever Lisa was about to share was either very personal or very secret or both and that it wasn’t something she was willing to give. Something must have forced her hand.

“Okay,” she finally said quietly, “let's start at the beginning. You’ve always had a neurolinker right? I mean, from birth, right?”

Rick scratched his head. Huh? “Yeah, you know that. I mean, I had that heart problem remember? I know I’ve told you about that.” These days, hospitals used neurolinkers to monitor baby heartbeats and body temperatures but thirteen years ago it was an uncommon practice used only in emergencies.

“Right,” Lisa said quickly; “just checking. And then a year later you had…uh… your family issues so you were given a neurolinker with Nanny apps to keep you occupied while your dad worked right?”

Rick gritted his teeth and nodded. His “family issues” involved his mother getting killed by a hit-and-run drunk driver. It was before any cameras had been installed an no arrests were ever made. Thinking about it, Rick was pretty sure that was why he didn’t mind the camera system so much.

“Yeah, sorry,” Lisa said looking down again. “Thanks. I had to make sure you fit the first criteria.”

“Criteria for what? What is this crap?” He was getting upset now. She was trying to get out of their bet and while twenty dollars may not have been much to her, he’d be able to feed himself for two days without taking his dad’s money. Heck, if he could’ve, he would’ve gotten a part time job but thirteen was too young, no matter how eager.

Lisa took another breath before reaching onto her bed and pulling down an XSB cable about a foot and a half long. “Well, this may or may not work; we’re gonna find out. But first…uh…I need to direct with you. Is that okay?”

The request caught Rick off guard. Directing neurolinkers was something you only did with people you were extra close to; spouses or family. And while he and Lisa were best friends, he’d never once thought about asking her to direct with him. It just wasn’t done.

Directing to another neurolinker opened both computers to each other, letting the linked check each other’s files, apps, everything; all without the other person being able to tell what was being looked at. If Rick directed with Lisa, he’d be able to look at her browser’s search history, check any and all documents and recently downloaded files, even plant a virus if he wanted to, all without her knowing what he was doing. A person’s entire life just a click away.

It was a tremendous risk which was why you only directed with a person you trusted implicitly.

So naturally, Rick was nervous when he reached for the cable being offered to him. Not that he had any reason to be nervous of course. “Are…are you sure? I mean, I know you’d never try to peek or anything and you know I’d never do that either right?”

“Just do it,” she muttered, looking quite nervous herself. Maybe she had something to hide? But he had already told her that he wasn’t going to snoop!

He plugged the cable into the slot in his beige neurolinker and a red warning popped up into his field of vision informing him that the linker neurolinker now had access to his information. Sighing, he hit the CONTINUE button on his digital keyboard and it disappeared.

“okay, here goes,” Lisa said, fingers flying over the keyboard only she could see. She executed a series of commands before a download box appeared in Rick’s vision.

“What’s this?”

“Just download it.”

“What is it?”

“Just do it!” she sounded upset.

“Tell me what it is. The file size is huge! I may not have the memory for it.”

“It’s just a game, all right? Download it please?”

“If it’s a VRMMORPG you know I don’t play those. Plus, I couldn’t afford the subscription fees if I wanted to. I mean, I was going to win twenty dollars from this friend of mine…”

“Oh shut up,” she chuckled, shoving him. “You’ll like this. It’s a fighting game and I know how much you like those.”

“If its free then it's probably pirated or something. Maybe illegal or banned.” He looked at her pleading eyes and sighed. It had clearly taken a lot for her to ask him to download this game for some reason. “Ah well. Wouldn’t be the first time would it?” He winked at Lisa. “But after this wanna talk about why you’ve been upset?” He clicked the DOWNLOAD button and leaned back.

Lisa shrugged. “No promises this will work anyway. It doesn’t always download completely on every neurolinker. Plus, I can only attempt to share it with one other person, and I chose you! You should thank me and feel honored! I could’ve picked any one of my girl-jock friends, but I didn’t!”

Rick saw a wall of flames rise from Lisa’s floor. “All this build up and there’s no promises. If my neurolinker goes on the frits because of this game we’re going to have a real problem. I can’t afford a new one and we need one for school and homework.”

“Look, it’ll either work and we can play the game together or it won't and there won't be any long- or short-term effects to you or your neurolinker okay?” She let out a low groan. “You’re always so paranoid.”

“Comes from being ignored most of my life,” he commented dryly. “When people start to notice me, it makes me cynical.” He focused his eyes. Were words appearing in that wall of fire?

“Look, you’d be more noticeable if you made more of an effort,” Lisa complained. “Brush that mop of hair, wear brighter colors…” She faded out as Rick held his hand up. “What?”

But he couldn’t say anything. His mind was too busy trying to understand the sentence that had appeared as the wall of fire vanished.

WELCOME TO THE ACCELERATED WORLD

Only then did the file name register in his head; BRANBURST.exe.

He looked up at a nervous looking Lisa. “What the hell is Brain Burst?”


	2. Chapter 2

The next day at school, Rick couldn’t seem to focus or concentrate on anything, not of the Civil War, not long division, not even lunch. All he could think about was the conversation that continued to replay in his head, the talk he had with Lisa in her bedroom the previous day about the new game he had downloaded; Brain Burst. 

His horrific nightmare from the night before also popped up every now and then but Rick did his utmost to force it back into the depths of his subconscious, not wanting to brood on that particular fear during school hours. 

“What the hell is Brain Burst?” Rick asked. 

Lisa’s eyes opened wide. “You mean it worked?” she asked, “It actually downloaded?” 

“Oh, yeah,” he replied. “So, can you tell me what it is now?” 

“I told you, it’s a fighting game,” she said evasively. 

“It sounds like one of those educational games they made us play back in elementary school. You know, like the one with the creepy looking frog and butterfly pair that were supposed to make math fun? Man, those things creeped me out.” 

“I promise,” Lisa chuckled, “that it’s nothing like that.” She thought for a second. “Though, I do know a Butterfly.” 

“So, let’s play this thing then.” Rick said sitting up. “With its file size, I’m anxious to see what this game can do.” 

Lisa grimaced. “Sorry. No can do until tomorrow.” 

“What? Why not? That makes no sense.” 

“I'll explain in a minute, but first, I’m gonna send you a word document.” 

Since the two were still directing she didn’t even have to send an e-mail. She simply typed up the document and sent it across the XBS cable and into Rick’s AR field. 

He opened the document, curious why she didn’t just use neurospeak if she didn’t want to say whatever it was out loud. It was two words, and he raised his eyebrows. “What does this mean? Burst Li-” 

“Don’t say it!” Lisa cried out, reaching to cover his mouth with her hands. When she seemed to sense everything was all right, she pulled her hands back and leaned against her bed, brushing her hair behind her ear. After a deep breath she looked back up at Rick who just looked confused. 

“Didn’t you think it strange that I didn’t just tell you the words? Now then,” she said calmly, “saying those two words activates one of the features of the game through your neurolinker so that’s why I couldn’t say them out loud. I mean, I could’ve just done it myself but it's really disorienting if you’re not prepared. So, I needed to explain it first. You can say the words now if you want.” 

“I’m… not sure I should, “Rick said. “That was…quite a reaction there.” 

“Sorry.” she stammered. “I was just excited because the program downloaded is all.” 

“That’s another thing. Why wouldn’t this Brain Burst game not download? Is it a hardware thing or what?” 

Lisa actually stifled a giggle at that. “I guess, technically you could say it’s a hardware issue, yes. I’ll explain it in a second. But first, I need you to say the words. Oh, and prepare to have your mind blown!” 

Rick was skeptical of that. He’d played plenty of fighting games over the years and none could really be called “mind blowing”. Sure, every now and then a new game would be released that had a new feature, a creative function that helped it stand out from its competition, but those were few and far between. 

Strangely, he more enjoyed the older fighting games from his grandfather’s time; the 1990s and early 2000s. The simplicity was a nice change of pace from the more common VR and AR games his peers played. So, bracing for disappointment, Rick sat up and muttered the words on the document Lisa had sent. 

“Burst Link.” 

Rick’s world turned blue. Like, seriously, blue. It was as if some over-zealous construction worker had covered the inside of Lisa’s bedroom (and everything on it) in transparent blueprints. Including himself and Lisa. 

Wait, what!? 

Gawking, Rick realized he was looking at himself sitting calmly on Lisa’s floor leaning against a bean-bag chair, Lisa not a foot away. And neither of them were moving. Everything was frozen in place. 

So how was he seeing this? 

He looked at his feet – his, not the froze him on the floor and saw the familiar brown loafers and khaki pants of his school – and home – avatar, his representation on the local school net. Not caring one way or the other, he kept it his default avatar for his home net as well. 

“So? What do you think?” Lisa asked from behind. He turned and saw her home net avatar, a dark blue bunny in bright pink pajamas complete with fuzzy slippers and nightcap. She was about as tall as his knees. 

“About what?” he asked. Honestly it sounded calmer than he felt. Inside, he was so confused about what he was seeing he didn’t know where to start. 

“It’s okay to freak you know. I did.” Lisa confessed. 

“Just… explain. Please.” He was desperately trying not to freak. 

“Well, okay. Then I’ll just say welcome to the Accelerated World!” 

Rick started. That’s what the words had said after the wall of fire had disappeared when he was finished downloading the game. “But do we use our avatars, or do we select from pre-made fighters or something? Also-” 

“Whoa, easy Tex.” Lisa interrupted. “Don’t get ahead of me, ‘k? I know you got questions. Trust me, I get it. Just let me explain.” 

He gestured for her to continue and she smiled. 

“This,” she motioned to the blue world around them, “is the Accelerated World. Here, where we are, time is sped up in our minds. The Brain Burst program has sped up our brains to the point where we’re thinking so quickly it looks like time has stopped.” 

“That… that’s got to be impossible.” Rick protested. “That’s not how our brains or time works. I think.” 

Lisa spread her hands. “And yet, here we are. Our minds are accelerated, allowing our consciousness to take form as our local avatars and we can communicate and think and all that, all while the rest of the world is going extra slow. At least, as far as we perceive it.” 

Rick simply blinked. 

“Moving on,” she continued “as for why you may have been able to download the program; well certainly you can tell from the whole acceleration thing that not everyone could be able to be mentally capable of dealing with an accelerated mind. So, there are two conditions that have to be met or the program won’t be loaded. While it’s installing, your neurolinker scans your mind to see if you meet both prerequisites.” 

“And those are…?” Rick finally got his voice back though he was having some trouble following the conversation. This was a lot to take in! 

Lisa’s bunny ears twitched. “I’m getting there; all good things to those who wait!’ she humphed. 

“First of all, there are two conditions in order for your neurolinker you be able to download the Brain Burst program, you already know the first; having a mental connection to a neurolinker almost from birth all through your early childhood. Well, the second condition is a little tougher. It involves your brains reaction speed. Without a certain amount of … aptitude the program won’t install in your neurolinker. It fades out half-way through the fire wall and you don’t see the welcome message.” 

“Wait,” Rick interrupted, “brain reaction speed? Like, mental reflexes?” 

“Uh, yeah,” Lisa answered guiltily. “That … uh, that’s why I kept challenging you to play all those games, getting you to break all your old speed records and all that. I thought it might increase your chances of the program accepting you.” 

That made it sound like the program was somehow alive, which was unsettling to Rick. “Okay, and?” 

“So now you know the two conditions needed for installing Brain Burst. You know, in case you ever want to give it to someone else. So, moving on… uh… man, this is tougher than I thought it would be. My parent didn’t have this much trouble explaining things to me…” 

“Parent? Like, your dad?” 

“Later,” she muttered, wagging a furry bunny finger at him. “Uh, okay. The world around you! The world that’s all blue; that’s the real world okay? And our minds are accelerated so all of this taking we’re doing is being done mentally, like through neurospeak. With me so far?” 

Rick nodded. He had assumed they were speaking with a program similar to neurospeak but more advanced; it wasn’t quite difficult. 

“Right,” she continued, “well, you see my room, right?” 

Sighing, he nodded. 

“Okay, so look into the hallway from my door.” 

Rick did as he was told. Stepping towards Lisa’s open bedroom door then stopped suddenly. The door leading out of her room was simply a solid black wall. 

“What the what?” he asked startled. 

“My room that you see in blue is actually an exact replica I programmed into my neurolinker just for this occasion. It took almost the whole month!” 

“But, uh why?” Rick wasn’t sure where this was going. “Why go through the trouble? What are you trying to prove?” 

“Well since this is all in our minds, how would you do it so we could see the world around you? How would you play a fighting game without a world to fight in?” 

Rick motioned to their motionless bodies. “But what about us? How are we seeing ourselves? I mean, you didn’t program me into your little demonstration.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Oh please. You’re so predictable. You always sit in the same place on my floor, leaning against that bean-bag chair instead of sitting on the thing! With all the reference material from the apartments security cameras I could easily make a VR you once I learned how.” 

Rick found that level of motivation a little scary. “Well, okay, but what about outside? You can’t program that.” He glanced at the single window in her room, light spilling through the dirt resistant glass. 

Lisa smirked. “Take a look yourself.” 

He turned and went to the window, looking out at a pure blue New York City on an unseasonably warm March afternoon. And what he saw caused a gasp to escape his throat. 

Clouds hung immobile in the sky, cars seemed parked along the Park Avenue street, and a small bustle of birds seemed paralyzed in midair, wings unmoving. Looking at the sidewalks, the dozens of people were equally frozen, some walking, some running, and one small boy in midair about to splash into a puddle. 

Looking closely, Rick could see that - yes – the jumping boy was moving; just very, very slowly. 

“Luckily,” Lisa said directly behind him, “I don’t have to program anything. After many years and a lot of debate, our government installed several little machines that feed directly into the Brain Burst program.” 

“You mean… No. That’s impossible.” Surely, she couldn’t be saying what it sounded like she was saying. “There’s no way.” 

“Oh, it's true,” she confirmed. “The Brain Burst program, officially called Brain Burst 2039, hacks into the CSN cameras and creates a digital, virtual reality environment for our accelerated minds to play and fight in. While real time is slowed our extra-fast brains can have fun!” 

Rick shook his head, refusing to believe what he just heard. “It’s not possible. It can’t be. The firewalls on those things are indestructible. I mean, if you could hack into the CSN that easily, every organized crime syndicate would be doing it.” 

“So, who makes the cameras?” Lisa asked. “What country do they come from?” 

Rick shrugged. “I dunno. Some country in Japan?” 

“And I’ll give you three guesses as to where Brain Burst came from.” She laughed. 

No way! He still couldn’t wrap his mind around it all. 

“Plus, they were the first major country to have a camera set up as large as this. From what I was told, it stretched from Tokyo south all the way to Okinawa. It’s like having cameras from here all the way to South Carolina.” 

Rick held his forehead in his hand, groaning. 

She led him back to the center of the room patting him on the back. “It’s a little overwhelming I know. That’s why I only have a few more things to go over with you. Then you can go back home.” 

He raised his head and looked into the bunny’s big cartoony eyes. “By all means.” 

“Well first of all, our time in the Accelerated World is limited. Once your fight avatar gets to level 4 there’s a way around that, but we’ll cover that when you get there. But here, in the normal Accelerated World dueling field we only have a half hour before our minds stop accelerating. And that’s a half hour as far as we are concerned; in the real world, only one – point – eight seconds have gone by.” 

Rick thought back to the boy jumping into the puddle, moving so slow. It only took about a second to do that. Made sense. As much as anything explained to him in the past five minutes could make sense. 

“Remember,” she interrupted his thoughts, “a few weeks ago, you asked me why I was starting to sound more mature? Why I seemed to be older and I responded that girls just mature faster than boys?” 

He nodded dumbly. It was around that time she had started getting more surly towards him. 

“Well, it’s because mentally I’ve been aging much faster than physically. And you’ll find that a lot of other people you meet in the Accelerated World be the same, talking like an adult with the voice of a kid; sometimes a really young one.” 

That hit something Rick had been meaning to ask. “Hold it. You said that the first condition for installing this program was that you had to have a neurolinker from near birth, that your brain waves needed that connection, right? But affordable, commercial neurolinkers have only been available to the public for, what, sixteen years or so? You’re telling me that no adults are playing this game? The oldest people playing are sixteen or seventeen years old? 

Lisa nodded, bunny ears flopping. 

“That’s insane,” he whispered. “How the hell is this game so secret? I’ve never read a review or heard any other people talking about it or anything! Most ten year olds can't keep their mouths shut!” 

“Well, let me ask you this,” Lisa countered. “Say a seven-year-old kid popped up and told you about this amazing game he plays, where not only time stops but they get to be awesome fighters with ultra-powerful skills and abilities, and they use the entire city as their playground. How would you react to that?” 

Rick sighed. “Fair enough.” 

“But you’d be surprised,” she remarked. “I like to think that our younger players enjoy having such an amazing secret,’ her eyes widened suddenly. 

“Oh yeah, before we run out of time, I need to explain Burst Points. As a new player, you start with one hundred points. Using the Burst Link command uses a single point and you fight others in an attempt to steal their points; makes sense?” 

He nodded. 

“Well, you use your burst points for everything. And I mean everything. You’ll use them as a form of currency as well as for leveling up your avatar once you have one.” 

“But if for any reason you drop to zero points, Brain Burst will automatically uninstall from your neurolinker and you’ll never be able to install it again.” 

This gave Rick a bit of a shock. “But… it’s just a program. How does a computer program know that it’s being re-downloaded? I mean, a person could get a new neurolinker or something.” 

“Well, it’s just a theory but we think it’s because the Brain Burst central server can tell based on your brain waves. I mean, think about it; it has to scan your mind to make sure you meet the second condition, right? Heck, your neurolinker can only be accessed by you!” 

That was a fair point, but something was gnawing at him. “But if this is such an amazing game then the people forced out would start spreading rumors and stuff all over the net. Even if the mainstream didn’t believe them, there are plenty of conspiracy nuts out there to spread the word. Shoot, governments would kill to get their hands on something that stops time!” 

Lisa sighed. “And therein lies the darkest secret of Brain Burst. It was only a rumor until a few months ago but it's been confirmed by a source I trust. When you lose Brain Burst you also lose any and all memories associated with it. All the time you’ve spent fighting, all the people you’ve met, the mental growth and age, it all goes away.” 

Rick was silent. This may have been the single biggest shock of the afternoon. 

“I mean, it literally makes you think so fast that time slows down to a thousandth of normal. I assume erasing a few memories isn’t out of the question.” 

“That… is horrifying.” He looked at his feet silently for a few seconds before looking back up at Lisa’s avatar. It was difficult to take all this so seriously while looking at a dark blue rabbit in pink PJs and slippers. “Why me?” he asked quietly. 

The ears of the avatar dropped slowly down the sides of her head. “You’re my best friend. And you were the only person I could think of that might actually be able to install it. I wanted us to be able to play together again; like when we were little. But I got sports and stuff after school so there’s never time to hang out. We don’t even share any classes. 

“But now,” she pepped up, “we can do a bunch of fun stuff and it literally only takes a few seconds!” 

Well, he couldn’t really deny that. He still felt that she was holding something back but he didn’t know what that could’ve been. And the game sounded really interesting. He didn’t like the idea that it could tamper with his memories but once he learned what the whole thing was about, he was sure he could find a fail-safe in the system somewhere. 

He stood up and nodded. “All right, I’ll give it a shot. If I don’t like it, I can always uninstall it on my own so it won’t mess with my mind, right?” 

Lisa nodded emphatically. 

“Okay then, what’s next?” he asked. 

She took his hand into her furry paw and patted it gently. “Well, our time is almost done here so I’ll just say this: tomorrow after school, your training begins. But for now, you need to do two things. First, sleep with your neurolinker on tonight. Second, before you go to sleep, disconnect your neurolinker from the global net. I’ll explain why tomorrow.” 

Rick nodded. Those were both fairly easy requests. Luckily, his dad usually called and texted his phone instead of his neurolinker, so he wouldn’t worry about missing messages. 

“Oh!” Lisa exclaimed suddenly, “One more thing! In order to leave the Accelerated World before the time limit runs out, all you have to do is say Burst Out!” 

Her avatar vanished instantly. 

Rick blinked at the display before following. “Uh… Burst Out?” 

The first think Rick did was check the digital clock readout in the lower left corner of his AR display. Just as Lisa had said, less than two seconds had passed since the two of them had entered the Accelerated World. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that the two of them had been speaking for nearly half an hour but almost no time had passed. 

“What do you think?” Lisa asked as she disconnected her XBS cable from both of the neurolinkers. He couldn’t really respond. 

“Yeah,” she laughed, “I had that same reaction when my parent explained everything to me too.” 

There was that word again; parent. “I assume you're not talking about your actual parents.” 

“Parent is the term used to describe the person who installs Brain Burst onto your neurolinker. So, I am your parent and you are my child. It’s a very special bond in the game but you don’t have to call me mom or anything.” 

“I wasn’t planning to,” he muttered. 

“Okay! Good talk” she suddenly bounced up from the floor. “Well, good to see you and all but I got homework to do so get the heck outta my apartment! And don’t forget, disconnect your neurolinker from the net before you go to sleep. You won’t have a duel avatar until tomorrow morning but we don’t want you getting challenged to a fight at three AM!” 

He nodded as he stepped out of the apartment, but Lisa’s hand grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. “One last thing. You’re going to have a terrible nightmare tonight. It’s part of the game, making your avatar. Just be ready for it.” 

This caused him to raise an eyebrow in question. 

Sure enough, that night Rick had a nightmare that forced him awake in a cold sweat. He had trouble remembering specifics but part of it involved the world forgetting he existed. It was as if he had been forced to uninstall himself from reality. Even Lisa forgot his face as soon as she looked away. 

So did his father. 

Then there was the beast. All he could see in the darkness were two bright, yellow eyes approaching closer and closer. The eyes had no lids and no pupils and yet there were focused only on him. 

An inhuman screech came from the east and he heard a woman scream. 

Then the voice. 

You wish to be seen? To be noticed? 

Then rise and be recognized. 


	3. Chapter 3

School dragged on and on. Rick had so many questions for Lisa, he could keep track of all of them. How had she known about the nightmare? She had told him it had something to do with Brain Burst creating his game avatar but how did that work? The more he thought about it the more it unnerved him. And even though he could only remember small pieces of the dream just the thought of it sent shivers up his spine.

He had disconnected his neurolinker from the global net, as directed, before going to bed but why? What was the point? Lisa said he could be challenged if he was connected but she hadn’t explained how. Hopefully she would cover that after school.

All he knew was being disconnected from the global net meant no news that morning and no instant feeds from different accounts he followed. It also meant that the AR display wasn’t in his field of vision so when he stepped into the street heading to his school bus stop, he didn’t get the instant warning that a car was approaching.

Luckily, he was actually paying attention.

When would he be allowed to reconnect? A student’s neurolinker had to be connected to the school’s local net by the time classes started but setting it up was a major hassle since he wasn’t already linked globally. Normally it was automatic.

Sadly, the only period both Rick and Lisa shared was lunch and even then, he couldn’t – or didn’t – approach Lisa and her cluster of friends. Everyone already knew they were friends – at least those who remembered who he was – but approaching a girl at lunch and asking for a minute of her time would start rumors about them and Rick really didn’t need that right now.

Instead, he sat in his normal seat in a corner of the cafeteria, ate his lunch, and then leaned back against his chair’s back and logged into the school’s local net; full dive. He felt his mind “leave” his body as it accessed the school net, floating down what looked like the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland. Though he could see this he had no body; not yet anyway. Not until he “landed” on the ground floor of the school’s homepage. Then his school avatar materialized, an exact digital copy him in pressed khaki slacks, a white button-down shirt, and brown loafers.

Other students were on the homepage as well boys and girls in identical dress, though the girls wore skirts instead of pants. They talked to each other while walking to carious tunnels in the “rabbit hole” that lead to the other sites on the school’s net.

Without thinking about it, he walked to tunnel number three; the way to the athletic department’s sub-pages. From there he went to tunnel eight; the digital athletic fields. Here, students could play any number of digital sports and if they were on a sports team they could log into the team’s personal site and watch film or discuss strategy with teammates. Lisa herself had access to both the girls' soccer and volleyball sites.

Rick’s avatar materialized on the athletic field and strolled towards the several tennis courts that lined a corner of the area. Unfortunately, there was already a sizable crowd, but they had never stopped him before! He came almost every other day, though he had to admit he wasn’t quite sure why. Sure, she was cute, but it wasn’t like she actually saw him or anything.

Samantha Watt.

Even though P.S. 105 middle school in Manhattan didn’t have a tennis club or team or whatever, Samantha was out there every other day, practicing. Apparently, she’d been playing for the past four years and was quite the natural. Rick wasn’t sure how playing virtual tennis helped her in reality but it did; maybe it helped with reflexes?

It didn’t matter. He just liked to watch he play. He often wondered if that made him a creep or something. It was times like that he felt fortunate that most people didn’t even seem him, much less remember he was there.

Luckily, he wasn’t alone. Both boys and girls came to watch but Rick never saw her actually hanging out with other students between classes. He just figured most people wanted to catch a glimpse of the local celebrity.

There was something about her that drew him in, and he didn’t have a clue what it was. Sure, her auburn hair and tan eyes were captivating, of course she had a trim athletic body but there was absolutely some other-worldly thing about her. The way she spoke to others, it was like she was much older than her thirteen years suggested.

Rick only knew a little about her himself. She had been raised in the American foster care system, orphaned from birth, until she was adopted by the Watts, an upper-middle class African American family with two children already when she was nine. Her adoptive sister was a year older and a world-class gymnast currently training for the Olympics under the Gabby Douglas at her personal gym in Virginia Beach. Her adoptive brother, who was three years younger, seemed to be following in his father’s footsteps and was already the most requested child-actor on Broadway. Billy Watt, her father, was a Broadway actor/director and her mother Cynthia was a highly respected neurosurgeon.

All in all, it was a family with high expectations and Rick couldn’t fathom how a girl who had no family five years ago was able to jump right in and become a tennis prodigy. The amount of pressure she was under must’ve been monumental.

Maybe it was her inner strength he admired about her.

He continued watching her run back and forth across the court, a virtual tennis instructor noting her movements. She wore a sweat suit when she trained at school, the tennis skirts showing to much leg for the school administrators which Rick always thought was strange. She still wore the tennis skirt at actual matches, didn’t she? Why were adults such prudes?

Not that he was hoping to catch a glimpse of smooth, well-toned leg or anything. No way.

Rick blinked, knocking all of his thoughts loose. Had she just looked at him? He shook his head; there was just no way. She didn’t even know he existed and that was how it should be. Glancing at his digital clock display he noticed that lunch was almost over; he’d spent almost ten minutes standing here, staring at nothing, thinking of Samantha Watt. Well, that was a little embarrassing. He backed away from the crowd which was rapidly decreasing as students logged out of their full dives right there. Instead of doing that, Rick always preferred logging out of an official log-out station which officially documented how long students spent in full dives. Technically, students were supposed to log out like that, but the rule was never enforced.

Rick made it to the log-out station and was about to begin the process when a sudden voice startled and interrupted him.

“Hey!”

Turning slowly, he saw Samantha Watt trotting over, waving her arms energetically. He looked around, expecting another person to be standing nearby but, as he feared, he was alone. Looking back at her he pointed nervously to himself.

“Of course!” she laughed, finally catching up to him. “Who else?”

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I’m not noticed all that often.”

She smiled and Rick almost passed out. That smile was a dangerous weapon! “I think not standing out in a crowd makes you stand out even more,” she commented.

Rick tried desperately to understand what she had just said, or to even understand exactly just what was going on right bow but a small crowd was starting to gather a dozen or so feet away and a lot of whispers and angry stares were being sent in his direction. He didn’t need this kind of attention! Samantha Watt was way out of his league and he knew it!

“Oh, sorry,” he said quickly, “but lunch is almost over and stuff, so…uh… was there anything you needed?” He was trying really hard not to sound like a jerk, but his usual manner of speaking could be considered by some to be aggressive to those who didn’t know him. And the growing group of stares directed his way was causing him to stress a little. But Samantha smiled again (still dangerous) and nodded. “Yeah. I just wanted to say hello to you. I’ve seen you watching me from time to time, but you don’t hoot or holler like most of the other boys our age. You just came across as a little more mature, so I wanted to introduce myself.”

I’m not mature, Rick thought. I just don’t trust myself to speak.

“You’re Rick, right? Lisa’s friend? Lisa and I kind of hang out after school sometimes, us being girl-jocks and all, we have a lot in common. She’s told me a lot about you.”

Really? Lisa hadn’t mentioned Samantha Watt once to him; though he knew she had friends besides him.

“And I’m Samantha,” she finished.

“Uh, yeah. Hi.” It was all he could manage to get out of his mouth.

“You can call me Sam if you want.”

“I…can?” This was the longest conversation Rick had had with a girl that wasn’t his cousin Jenny or Lisa Pak and he was quickly running out of words to use. For some reason that smile of hers was forcing his brain to shut down. It was very inconvenient.

Fortunately, the warning bell clanged loudly on their neurolinkers informing them they had five minutes to get to class.

“Darn!” she stamped her foot playfully, smiling again. “Ah well. You wanna meet some place tomorrow during lunch? It’s a day off of tennis for me; do you have plans?”

All he could do was shake his head. What the hell was happening!?

“Okay then!” she said cheerfully. “How about the practice stage in the drama club homepage? They haven’t started rehearsals for the spring play yet. It’ll be empty.”

He nodded, not trusting words.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow! Later!” She winked at him and logged out using the log-out station. Stunned, Rick stood stock still until the three-minute alarm went off.

Regaining the use of his brain, he logged out of the school’s full-dive net and opened his eyes in a completely empty cafeteria. He threw out his trash and almost ran to his next class.

“I don’t know,” Lisa told him as they roe the school bus home that afternoon. “She’s never noticed you before and suddenly she wants to get close? And to you? I mean, nothing personal but Samantha Watt is way out of your league!”

“Yeah, thanks,” Rick growled, even though he agreed. What was going on with his life lately? First Brain Burst, now this? Even worse, the crowd that had witnessed his conversation with Ms. Watt had spread rumors, everything ranging from her asking him out and him refusing to him offering her money for a date. This earned him angry glares from almost everyone in his classes, most of which followed him to the bus.

Lisa’s bus to be exact. They had decided it would be easier to take her school bus to her place instead of him being dropped off at home, then walking for ten minutes to get to her apartment building. Unfortunately, he didn’t know all the kids on the bus and the stares he got meant that a good majority of them had heard – and believed - the rumors.

Shifting uncomfortably, he leaned closer to Lisa. “You think Samantha might play Brain Bur- “He was cut off by an elbow to the gut.

“Rule number one, don’t talk about it in public.” Lisa growled.

“Okay, fine.” He wheezed back.

“Rule number two, don’t talk about it in public.”

“I said I got it, Chuck, jeez.”

She quickly typed something on her digital keyboard and sent it to Rick as an e-mail. I’ll explain later but if anyone on this bus played and cracked us in the real it could be very very bad.

He sighed and nodded. It seemed like an unnecessary precaution to take, but she was the veteran here.

“as to your question,” she muttered, “I don’t think she does. I’d have seen her on the challenge Board at school. I’m the only name that comes up.” She seemed a little more agitated than a minute ago.

Rick wasn’t sure what the “Challenge Board” was, but he could guess. Instead, his mind drifted across another question. “Could a name be hidden from the Challenge Board?”

Lisa started suddenly, like she’d just been pinched. “What? Uh, no, I don’t think so,” she replied. “A-anyway, I don’t think that’s possible. Years ago, in Japan, apparently there was some sort of backdoor with those illegal BIC chips that made you invisible, but a patch went out fixing the problem.”

“At least the GMs and moderators are on it,” Rick commented off-handedly. “It’s good that they keep tabs on things, update regularly, that sort of thing. It’s a hallmark of a game worth playing.

“Uh, no,” Lisa replied. “Everything is either automatic or self-run. In fact, nobody knows who actually made the game itself,” she whispered. “Allegedly, if you get to level 10, the creator appears and tells you why he created the game in the first place.”

Rick raised an eyebrow. “Level 10? Is that the highest you can get? That doesn’t sound too tough.”

Lisa chuckled. “Don’t get your hopes up pal. People have been playing this game since it came out in America, five years ago and only four of them have made it to level 9. There may be a new level 9er soon though. It’s a big deal because it doesn’t happen often.”

Rick was thinking on that as the large yellow bus lurched to a stop and its airbrakes hissed. Lisa tugged on his sleeve.

“C’mon. This is your stop too.” She got up, pulled her backpack onto her shoulder and headed down the center aisle, leaving Rick to follow behind, angry stares following him. He could understand their hostility; first being seen with Samantha Watt, now getting off the bus with Lisa Pak? And him being a nobody? If he saw it, he’d probably be angry too.

In Lisa’s room for the second time in as many days, Rick took his traditional place on the floor, leaning against her bean-bag chair. This time, he accepted the soda Lisa offered him; it had been a long day. But finally, it was time for answers and this time, he was going to get them!

Sipping his drink, he glanced around his friend’s room. It was much the same as it had been the past five years, though that White Stripes 40th Anniversary Reunion Tour poster was relatively new. Lisa plopped down next to him, an anxious expression in her eyes. He couldn’t tell if she was excited or upset about this afternoon.

“So… uh, can I get some answers?” He had planned to be a little more aggressive about this, but her darkening expression quieted him down a lot. “Uh, why did I need to stay disconnected from the global net this morning? I almost got hit by a car.”

This seemed to crack Lisa’s stern demeanor and she let out a loud guffaw. “Well, pay attention stupid!” She held out her XBS cable again. “If you would?”

Grumbling, Rick attached the cord to his neurolinker while she did the same, both of them ignoring the flashing warning.

“Now then, we’re going to see what your duel avatar looks like. I didn’t even look on the Challenge Board at school today so I wouldn’t see your name. Your name can easily give away the surprise!” She seemed excited all of a sudden. “You’ll see my avatar too and I’ll give you first instructions, okay?”

“I’ll challenge you, so you don’t have to use a point.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. “Burst Link!”

The instant she said it, a harsh metal-on-metal keening sound erupted around him and his world turned blue, but then flaming letters appeared across his vision.

HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER!


	4. Chapter 4

The blue world around Rick suddenly transformed. The walls of Lisa’s bedroom broke apart, pictures and posters disappearing, and her furniture began to decay, as if watching time-lapse video of hundreds of years go by in the blink of an eye. Most surprising was when the ceiling of her room vanished, leaving him to look at a dark starry sky. 

It was surprising because Lisa’s fifth floor apartment wasn’t the top floor of the building. Rick felt his avatar change and looked at his hands as they glowed with a soft light. He was momentarily distracted by the smell of rot and burning oil on the wind, but his attention was soon back on his hands. 

He watched as armor began to grow around them, encasing each finger in a jointed, metal glove. Looking down at his legs and feet, he saw them already covered, the armor a bright copper color. After another few seconds, he felt his head covered in some sort of helmet, covered by an immovable face plate, though his vision wasn’t altered at all. 

All in all, it was a rather jarring, if interesting experience. 

In the corner of his vision, he saw two names, each with a green bar and an empty bar underneath. Rick assumed one was him and the other was Lisa. 

**INDEGO VIPER**. That had to be Lisa. 

**COPPER TARNISH**. Of course, that would be him. But wait, Tarnish? He looked back at his hands and noticed that what had once been highly polished was now streaked with ugly red and green blemishes. Figured. 

“Metallic, huh?” a female voice said from behind. “Didn’t see that coming.” 

Rick turned and saw what could only be described as a root ninja woman. With goggles? She had long blue hair, the same dark blue purple as the rest of her body, tied back into a ponytail trailing all the way down the small of her back and she wore a form-fitting boy suit that showed off a waist/chest ratio that no real woman could survive. The lower half of her face was wrapped in a loose scarf that draped over her shoulder and thick goggles covered her eyes. 

She stood with her arms crossed under an impressive chest that couldn’t have been possible, no matter how generous genetics were. Her hips were thrust to one side, making her look very impatient. 

Rick blinked. “Lisa?” 

“Call me Viper.” 

“A ninja?” he asked chuckling. “Aren’t you Korean? And that impossible body? Wishful thinking?” 

“Bite me,” she snapped. “You don’t get to choose your name or what you look like, okay? The guy who made this game is Japanese. Haven’t you ever watched anime? They love giant boobs over there!” 

Rick held his hands up in surrender. Clearly this was a sore spot for Lisa, and he didn’t want her back in her mysterious mood again; not when she’d been so cheerful earlier. Instead, he showed her his own armored covering. “Yeah, I noticed you don’t get to pick. So, my name is now Copper Tarnish?” He sighed. “Even in the Accelerated World, I’m extra bland.” 

“Actually, you’re going to turn a lot of heads.” She replied. “Metallics are really rare.” She moved closer and began to inspect his avatar. “Remember the level 9s I told you about? Well, the four of them are all metals. It’s so rare that the four metallics eventually because the leaders of their own Legions. 

“Leaders?” Rick asked. “You mean, you guys have some sort of… society in the Accelerated World?” 

“All in good time my child,” she said coyly. “First off, like the normal Accelerated World, we only have a half an hour on the dueling field.” 

Rick noticed a rapidly decreasing digital clock in the lower left of his view and nodded. 

“Right, so we need to move quickly, all right?” She finished her inspection of him and stood up straight in front of him. “Click your HP Bar in the corner, if you would. 

He complied and an option menu appeared. Several things popped up, like the ability to see how many burst points he had, what was stored in his inventory, and a move list. 

As if reading his mind, Viper motioned for him to continue. “Check your move list, so you know what you can do in a fight.” 

Rick did as he was told and a second menu dropped, revealing three different attacks. He sighed. “Not much of a selection,” he commented. 

“Give it time,” Viper replied. “Out of curiosity, what’s your special attacks? Everyone that’s short range has punch and kick to start with, so what’s your third?” 

“Tarnished Arrow.” 

She shrugged. “Could be worse. Let’s see it.” 

Why not? This was a fighting game after all, even if it was a very strange, unique one. The only problem was he wasn’t sure where the arrow was coming from. There was no bow, nor was there a quiver to hold arrows, tarnished or otherwise. “Uh, how?” 

“Oh, sorry,” Viper started. “Forgot you’re a newbie. You just have to say the attack’s name. It’s annoying and very Japanese, but it’s the only way.” 

Well, that wasn’t too tough. “Okay, here goes. Tarnished Arrow!” 

The palm of Rick’s hand, which was facing down, split open and a small arrow, more a dart really, shot out and hit him in the foot, impaling it to the ground. Real pain, along with real surprise, surged through his brain, focused on the new hole in his foot. 

“Ouch! What the hell?” he cried out. “I thought it was illegal to have realistic pain sensations in VR fighting games!” He knew that what he was feeling was actually only a fraction of the real pain of shooting himself in the foot. 

Lisa seemed to have no sympathy. “Isn’t it also illegal to hack into CSN cameras to make a virtual game?” She calmly knelt down and sharply yanked the arrow out of his foot. It wasn’t even a foot long, but it was sharp at the end and even had small red fletchings at the back. 

“Fair enough,” he grunted. “Speaking of which, what’s up with this...environment?” 

Lisa looked around. “It’s a century end stage. It’s made all the roads and buildings look like they’ve been abandoned for decades. Normally, unless it's a public building, your avatar would be forced out of your private residence because there are no cameras, but since I have computer layout of my room programmed in my neurolinker, the stage is incorporating it into the stage. Prety cool huh?” 

Rick nodded, though again, the Brain Burst program was very scary. 

“Now, try to hit me this time,” Viper said. 

Holding his hand in front, palm facing forward. Rick took a deep breath and called out the name the attack. As before, his palm split, and a second arrow fired, straight and true, towards Indigo Viper. 

It struck her square in the chest. Then harmlessly bounced off her body on to the ground. 

“That,” she dryly commented, “dealt a single HP worth of damage.” 

“Oh come on, that’s bull!” Rick shouted angrily.” That arrow dropped my HP by, like five percent! This game’s got it in for me!” 

Viper shrugged. “Different people get different abilities. Maybe you’re meant to be support, and not attack directly. I’ll bet you’d do pretty good in a team-match. You’re metallic, so your defense should be pretty good. Better than mine anyway.” 

“Sounds like you’re looking for an excuse to hit me,” Rick sulked. 

She laughed. A real, honest-to-goodness belly laugh. It had been a while since Rick had heard that. “Tempting, but no,” she said once she settled down. “Actually, tradition dictates that when a parent gives their child their first lesson, the parent loses he duel, giving their children their first burst points. Isn’t that sweet?” 

“You hate traditions,” Rick muttered. 

“I’ll make an exception.” 

“Wait,” Rick perked up, “this means I get to attack you? And you’ll lose?” 

“Sure, go ahead. It’s tradition and all. But I’m not gonna just stand here and let you pummel on me. You gotta earn it.” 

Rick had hoped for that. He wouldn’t have earned those points if she just stood there and let him hit her like a crash-test dummy. But how would he do it? Punch, Kick, and Tarnished Arrow weren’t difficult to remember, but using them in an actual battle was different. 

Well, I gotta start somewhere. 

“C’mon,” she said. “Let's go into the street.” She jumped sideways, out of the broken walls into the night. “Move it!” she called from the ground. 

Rick followed, running and diving head-first before realizing that Lisa’s apartment was on the fifth floor. Thinking he was going to die (but doing a nice job not screaming about it), he was surprised when his avatar automatically righted itself and landed on its feet, kneeling on the broken and cracked street. 

Upon standing, Rick took a good look; it certainly looked like the end of the world had happened. The buildings in Lisa’s neighborhood had holes blown out of them and the cars had also seen better days, either smashed beyond recognition or on fire. Large oil drums blazed up and down the street, casting an eerie glow across both avatars. 

“Huh,” Viper said, “that was unexpected. I mean, I’m a ninja, so I can jump from high distances pretty easily, but you’re level 1. You may have some sort of built-in fall resistance which is good to know. We can look it up later.” She opened up her arms. “Let’s get going. Time’s a’ wasting!” 

Let's see if this game can keep up with me! 

Rick rushed forward and, curious if his fall resistance game him stronger legs, tried for a flying jump-kick, combined with his speed, he got impressive distance, but it was still far too short, not even close to landing on his smug parent. Luckily, he realized this and landed well enough so that he could continue running after landing. 

About five feet in front of Viper, he raised his hand out, palm forward. “Tarnished Arrow!” The arrow flew true, directly towards Viper’s face. Reflexively, she raised an arm to protect herself, leaving her mid-section wide open, just as Rick hoped. Using the distraction, he stopped low and pulled his arm back and, once it was directly under her, let loose a devastating upper cut into her solar plexus. 

The impact was strong enough to knock her off her feet, her arms splayed out. Rick held her in the air with his one arm and his fist, surprised by his avatar’s natural strength. 

I may have no personality, Rick thought, but I do know VR fighting games! 

To prove his point, while she was still hanging on his fist, he opened his hand. “Tarnished Arrow!” Even though the arrows only dealt one point of damage, he thought it might make him look slightly more impressive to the veteran. Show her he knew what he was doing. He fired his arrow multiple times. 

He finished by roughly slamming Indigo Viper onto the ground. All told, the attack took less than three seconds and a good deal of Viper’s HP bar dropped, mostly due to the throw to the ground. The ground didn’t move. 

Then he did a double take, looking at his own HP gauge. Even though she hadn’t hit him once, even though he took no fall damage, his HP had dropped a few more points! What was with this avatar? Could he get a do-over? 

“You’re looking at your HP, aren't you?” Viper asked from the ground. “I noticed it too.” 

“Well, what is it?” Rick asked. 

“I have a theory, but you ain’t gonna like it.” She rose from the ground and brushed loose pebbles and dust off her shoulders. Somehow her scarf still shrouded the lower half of her face. 

“Shoot me.” 

Hesitant, he did so and sure enough, his HP dropped one more point, along with hers. “What!?” 

Viper nodded. “Thought so. Your HP is your ammo. And if you miss, you’ll still lose the HP while your target will be fine. So, aim carefully.” 

“This sucks!” he cried out, kicking a busted up garbage can into the window of a random building. Unfortunately, the building was so broken up that almost the entire wall collapsed as the window frame was knocked in. As the wall fell, Rick noticed his second, formerly empty bar, fill with a deep a blue light. It had filled slowly while he was landing blows on his opponent, but the building caused it to fill much faster. 

He’d played enough fighting games to know that it was a special attack gauge. That raised some interesting possibilities... 

“Do I have to wait until my special attack bar is full, or do I have varying attacks based on how full it is?” 

“It varies,” Viper replied. “As you gain levels, you’ll get new special attacks. Your level 1 special probably won’t be used much when you get stronger, unless it increases in strength too. There are also special abilities that don’t use up your special attack bar, that some people can learn during times of great stress. I’ll explain more about that later. 

“But as for your special attack, check your Option Menu. There should be a submenu that just says FIGHT in all caps. It keeps track of your win/loss ratio, which opponents you’ve fought, that kind of thing. Well, it also has a list of all your special attacks and abilities. Next to the Level 1 icon, if you can use the attack, it will be highlighted. If not, then four gray question marks will be there.” 

Trying to keep track of everything Viper just told him, Rick accessed the menu and submenu. Under abilities, he saw CAT FALL highlighted. His fall resistance, maybe? He scanned through the menu until, sure enough, his Level 1 special attack was greyed-out by four question marks. It figured. 

“It’s still question marks,” he complained. “So, I can’t use it until my bar is full then?” 

“Seems that way.” She noticed how down he seemed. “Oh, don’t sulk. I wouldn’t want you to use it against me, anyway. Your first time is supposed to be in your first real battle opponent, so you’d never forget it. Hasn’t your father told you how special your first time is?” She laughed. 

“Easy man,” he grumbled. “This bites! My attack power is trash, my ranged attack deals damage to me, and I can’t use my special attack until my gauge is full!” He turned to look at Viper. “What’s your special attack?” 

“Oh! Wanna see? It’s totally cool!” She stood with her legs apart, one hand up in the air, looking like she was about to throw something on the ground. “Indigo Haze!” She threw her hand down and dark blue-purple smoke exploded from underneath her, covering her and about five feet in every direction around her. 

After a few seconds, the smoke cleared and there stood four identical Indigo Vipers, each talking the exact some posture, each looking at Rick. After another instant, three of them vanished in a puff of a purple smoke, leaving the real Viper alone. 

Rick blinked. “That’s some special attack.” 

“Yeah, I just got it.” Lisa said, “but I’m still learning how to control it. I can even swap out between my clones, so that if I time it right, I can avoid damage and still hit an enemy. But it’s really disorienting. I still need to practice with it before I use it in battle. Plus, it drains my special attack bar something fierce.” 

He crossed his arms and nodded. He wasn’t sure how she would be able to jump between clones, but he could certainly guess that it would be very disorienting to an untrained user. He could also guess that once she mastered it, she’d drive opponents crazy with it. 

“Anyway,” Viper continued, “times running low and I’m pretty sure you have slightly more HP than I do, but just to be safe, toss me on the ground again. Once we leave the dueling field, there’s a few more things to discuss, but by-and-large, you know just about everything you need to know about dueling and earning points.” 

After she took another body slam to the ground and got up, she continued speaking while dusting herself off again. 

“One more thing, before I forget.” She moved her hand, obviously pulling up her Options Menu, clicking on options Rick couldn’t see and a moment later. Rick heard a chime and the words YOU HAVE BEEN ADDED TO INDIGO VIPER’S GALLERY LIST; DO YOU CONFIRM? Appeared in front of his vision. 

“What’s this?” 

“It’s a feature that allows others to watch your fights, if they’re within range. Brain Burst is a spectator's sport, after all. It’s in your FIGHT menu with a few other things. Confirm and the next time I challenge or get challenged, you’ll be invited to watch with others on both fighter’s lists. 

“In the gallery, you can mingle with other avatars, watch the fight, study up on opponents, that kind of things. It’s totally useful, plus you can always decline.” 

Rick shrugged and confirmed the invite. Then he searched his own Menu until he found the proper command and sent an invite to Viper, who also confirmed. As he exited out of the Menu, a loud bell range in his ears. 

YOU WON! 

The burning words appeared in the air, startling Rick. Then, a number appeared at the bottom corner of his vision; his burst points he assumed. They began increasing until they went from 99 to 139; 40 points. 

“See ya in my room!” Viper called, then vanished. 

“Huh,” was all Rick could think to say as the end of the world stage melted around him and turned into darkness. 

Rick opened his eyes and blinked at the afternoon sun beaming through Lisa’s bedroom window. It was a stark contrast to the starlight and oil-fires of the stage he’d just been on. He looked around in an attempt to get his bearings; small bed with flowers on the blanket, a hook on the back of her closet door with her sports bag hanging from it...yea, this was Lisa’s room, all right. 

“Watcha think?” Lisa asked stretching and yawning next to him. 

He did the same, not realizing how tight his back was. “It was... interesting, that’s for sure. I’m intrigued but I’m willing to bet an actual duel is very different.” He reached up to unplug the XBS cable linking them together, but Lisa stopped him. 

“As long as we’re directing, we can’t be challenged to duels, but if we unlink, we’ll need to disconnect our neurolinkers from the global net or we might get cut off mid-conversation. 

Rick nodded; staying linked was the simpler option at the moment. 

“So,” she continued, if you want to find a duel, you use the voice command to enter the Accelerated World and you’ll be able to access the Brain Burst emblem on your AR screen. Use it and a list of fighters within reasonable distance will be available to select. Once the fight starts, if your opponent is out of your field of vision, a blue arrow will point out which direction they’re coming from. 

“You use a burst point to challenge someone, but you get to choose your opponent, whereas you can’t refuse a challenge, but it costs you nothing to access the Accelerate World. It’s a sort of trade off.” 

Lisa sat up and took a deep breath. “Now for the dirty topic; Politics” 

“Can’t get away from it, huh?” Rick chuckled. “Even in Brain Burst?” 

“Especially for you. Being metallic is very rare. I don’t know about Japan, or if any more cities anywhere have Brain Burst, but here in New York City, it’s really unusual. And the strongest metallics, the level 9s, are called the Governors.” 

“Governors, huh?” 

“Yes. They have their own Legions, territories carved out of the city, where they rule. This is an actual game feature, no it isn’t like they did this out of spite, or for some power trip. There are several smaller territories held by small groups or gangs, but the four Legions are the largest. 

“Apparently, in Japan they had kings instead of Governors, and they weren’t metallic but the purest of each color. That's the rumor, anyway. TO be honest, I’m surprised that isn’t how it’s done here in America, as obsessed with color as we are...” 

She shook her head after a minute of silence. “Anyway, as I said, the metallics are considered to be leaders in the Accelerated World and if you’re looking to join one, you’ll have to find of their Senators; captains, as it were. And you can only do that by establishing a rep and word of mouth. While you’re dueling someone, asl which Legion they belong to and if you impress them, they may tell a higher up. 

“Now then,” Lisa said, clearing her throat, “I’m going to tell you the four Legions and their leaders and what each Legion is known for. 

“From Brooklyn Heights down to Sheepshead Bay and out to Bay Ridge on the coast is the territory of Bronze Knocker and his Legion, the Pound Sector. Members of that Legion love to fight just for the sake of fighting. It’s usually where the most aggressive burst linkers end up. Bronze Knocker himself still comes out to duel every now and then, which is rare for a level 9er.” 

“On Staten Island, from St. George, past South Beach and all the way to Great kills Park, you’ll find the Legion of Titanium Titan, The Empire. Titan's got control of almost the entire island and the heard rumors that he’s looking to invade the Pound Sector once he has the whole thing under his control. If you haven’t figured it out yet, The Empire is all about expanding its territory, and Titan himself is easy to notice whenever he’s out; he's about nine feet tall. 

“In Queen’s, from LaGuardia Airport to JFK Airport, then west until you get the Kings Country Line is the Slip Circuit. Its leader is Pewter Slip, the only female level 9er that I know of, and the only rule of the Circuit is to have fun. They duel and explore and do whatever they want, with a very loose idea of structure. Even Pewter Slip’s Senators don’t early flaunt their power all that much. 

“And the last Legion, and the most dangerous as far as I’m concerned, is the Lupus Guard, led by Silver Lupus. His territory is the entire Bronx. He’s the only one to have complete control of his borough, and it's almost like a religious organization, what with the zeal his people show him. They kind of freak me out, but they’re dangerous because they stand for the status quo. In other words. They don’t like any kind of change.” 

Lisa leaned back, satisfied with her explanation, but Rick still had questions. “Which Legion do you belong to? 

“Oh, I don't belong to one,” she smiled. “By choice!” she quickly added. “I mean, about a month ago, I was invited to join the Slip Circuit, they really like my clone ability, but a friend of mine told me that a better apparently might be opening up, so I’m keeping my...uh...options open.” 

“And which friend was this?” Rick asked. Lisa was a pretty independent person, so anyone who could convince her to do something was someone Rick wanted to meet. 

Lisa looked down at her feet. “You, uh, may meet her someday.” 

“Another thing,” Rick said, changing the subject. “Nobody has a Legion in Manhattan?” 

“Well, like I said, there are small groups and gangs with territories carved out all over the place, but no, none of the level 9s have tried to take any land in Manhattan.” Her eyes lit up suddenly. “Oh, I almost forgot! The plus side to being in a Legion is that whenever you’re in your territory, you have the right to refuse duels! It’s way better than having to disconnect your neurolinker from the global net!” 

She took a deep breath. “Also, if you ever decide to start your own Legion, you’ve got to establish a large area, a couple of blocks at least. If your territory is just around your apartment building, people will be able to crack you in the real, and there are always PKers.” 

This was a lot of information to absorb, but Rick had the feeling this was important, so he perked up, Lisa saw this and nodded. 

“PKers, or Player Killers, are burst linkers who do everything they can to find payers in the real, use physical force or threats to force them into duels, then fight you over and over until you run out of burst points. They're basically point thieves.” 

“What, for real? It’s a freaking game!” Rick exploded. 

“Maybe,” Lisa shrugged, “but you can’t deny, the Accelerated World is a tempting place. That, coupled with the fact that your mind is tampered with when you lose all of your points, and you have a pretty compelling reason to ensure your points stay above zero. 

“And on that topic, remember yesterday when I told you that you use your burst points for everything?” 

Rick nodded, remembering something like that. 

“I’m telling you now, do not level your character until you have at least 350 points. You need 300 to level, but you need a buffer so that if you lose a duel after leveling, you don’t break zero. Make sense?” 

He nodded again. He didn’t speak, for fear that some of this information might leak out of his mouth. 

“And that’ll be all for now.” Lisa said, rising and stretching. 

Rick blinked. “Is there more than that?” 

“Oh yes,” she nodded with a grin. “but you look like you’re gonna pass out. So go home, eat, take a nap, something like that. Your first few times in the Accelerated World can be pretty tiring.” 

He got up and yawned, following her to her apartment’s front door. She patted him on the shoulder while unplugging the XBS cable that dangled from his neurolinker. While she was doing so, she pushed the DISCONNECT button, closing off Rick’s neurolinker to the global net. 

“By the way,” Lisa said at the door, “I probably shouldn’t have to say this, but you can’t call me Lisa over there. I’m always Viper, k? And I'll call you Tarn, that cool?” 

“Sure,” Rick said, walking out of the apartment. 

“Have a safe walk home!” Lisa said, closing the door behind him. 

Rick couldn’t form a response. He felt a headache coming on, so he staggered down the hall, towards the elevator. He was going to go home, take two aspirin, and conk out. 


	5. Chapter 5

Rick didn’t remember the walk home. It seemed that one minute, he was stumbling into the unseasonably warm March afternoon and the next, he was riding the elevator up to the floor where he and his dad lived. And all along the way he could only think about the different applications of Brain Burst and the Accelerated World. 

Now, he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Nothing good like this ever happened to Rick Billings. Not without something equally bad happening at the same time, anyway. It was the way his life worked, the curse of the bland.

Samantha Watt came to mind. This was another thing throwing his extra normal life into fits. Was it  really only this afternoon that they had  spoken? That she has asked to hang out tomorrow at lunch? It seemed incredibly random to Rick; very out of the blue. And regardless of what Lisa might think, he wasn’t convinced that Samantha didn’t have anything to do with Brain Burst. He installs it and then Samantha starts talking to  him? Real life didn’t work that way. 

He mulled these thoughts over and over in his mind, sitting plopped on the  couch, until a quite chime indicated a text from his father. Blinking, it was then that Rick had no memory of how he’d gotten home. Well, that wasn’t good.

He checked his phone.  Home at 11. Meatloaf in the fridge. Off tomorrow! Huh. Tomorrow was Friday. Maybe they could catch a movie after school. That would be nice. It had been a while since he and his dad got to hang out together. But it did get awkward sometimes. They just didn't see  each other all that much, what with his dad’s  irregular work hours. It was a little easier in the summer when there was no school, but still a bit of a challenge. 

He wasn’t sure why – no logical reason of course – but Rick felt like it was his fault for his mother’s death, and that his father felt that way too. But that was just his insecurities talking, wasn’t it?

But a movie and dinner with dad tomorrow? That was a good idea. And maybe a stroll through Central Park? Sure. Gramercy Park was closer, but this was a special occasion. A subway ride north was totally worth it! Heck, they might even be able to -

“Screw this!” Rick yelled out loud. Making plans to hang out with his dad was all well and good, but his mind was a million miles away still stuck on Brain Burst. Ignoring Lisa’s advice, he  reconnected his  neurolinker to the global net. He debated waiting for a challenger, but the fact he couldn’t refuse a duel meant that a high-level burst linker could challenge him for an easy win.

Well, he could enter the Accelerated World and check the  Challenge Board, and if there wasn’t anyone at or near hi level, he’d simply leave. No harm there. Easing his  mind, he took a deep breath; in, then out. 

“Burst Link.”

The world around him became blue again, but because there were no cameras in his apartment, his surroundings had no specifics; his avatar simply stood in a cube shaped chamber with no furniture, doors, or windows. Even his real body was gone.

Looking down at his school avatar he sighed. Maybe it was time for a change. Give his home avatar a little more personality. Especially if his  circle of friends was going to include Samantah Watt.

Promising himself he’d  look into it later, he clicked the large B that blazed in the corner of his vision and a menu came up with several names, their levels indicated next to them. They were listed in order, from highest to lowest.

MANGO DRUM, LEVEL 7

“No way!” Rick sputtered. That guy would destroy him! He scrolled down until he saw a familiar name.

INDIGO VIPER, LEVEL 4.

Ah, so Lisa was level 4, eh? She hadn’t mentioned. He noticed each name had a color first, then a noun or verb. Lisa hadn't mentioned that either. At the bottom of the list, he found what he was looking for, a single name.

EMERALD BUCKLER, LEVEL 1.

A single level 1 was in his “area” it seemed. Whoever he was, even if he had a little more experience than Rick, he was still only level 1. It should be  a pretty even fight. He highlighted the name and a  DUEL option appeared.

After a moment’s hesitation, he confirmed it.

A harsh keening, the sound of metal grinding on metal assaulted his ears and the blue room broke apart, transforming into whatever stage he would fight on. And then suddenly, he was on his apartment’s rook, the entire building – and every building he could see – was the slate gray of steel.  There were no seams, doors, or  windows, just giant rectangular blocks of metal.

He watched as his avatar was covered with the tarnished copper body armor, reddish – brown with hints of green here and  there, not the most appealing of colors. He still didn't find it very impressive, but Lisa insisted that metallics were rare, so maybe this Emerald Buckler would be impressed enough to let his guard down and he’d get a few hits in.  Now, where was he?

And that was when he heard an odd noise coming up the side of the building, right in front of him it seemed. That couldn’t be right. He peeked over the edge and couldn’t believe what he saw. Zooming up the fire escape of the building came an avatar that wasn’t anything like either he or  Viper ; in fact, it was difficult  from to decide what it looked like. He backed away from the ledge just as the bright green body jumped onto the roof. 

The first thing he noticed was that the avatar didn’t have legs. Instead, it had one thick solid leg that ended, not in a foot, but in twin wheels, one on each side of the ankle. The leg protruded  from a short  battle skirt that ended in sharp spikes.

Continuing up, Rick saw that this was a female avatar, though her chest wasn't nearly as generous as Lisa’s had been. The arms were thin and feminine but muscular, ending, not in hands from behind the helmet’s  face plate. And instead of hair, she wore what looked like a backward baseball cap.

The entire avatar glistened in the afternoon sun as if out from a single massive emerald. The glowing eyes narrowed behind the face plate as it caught sight of Copper Tarnish.

“You’re new.”

Rick wasn’t sure how to respond. “Uh... hi?”

“Hi,” she responded dryly. “You really want to do this? I can tell by your lack of stance that this is your first fight.  Shouldn't you have you parent with you?”

Rick started at that. He wasn’t sure if she was trash talking or not. “Well, where’s your parent?  You're level 1 too!”

She laughed. “Easy, kid. Not all levels are created equal. Anyway, I’d feel bad beating up on you.”

Trash talking it was then. Rick moved into a charging position, like a  football player looking to tackle a receiver. “Then just stand there and let me beat up on you!” Not  his best trash talk, but he was new and improve wasn’t a strong point.

He heard laughter from behind him. Turning, he saw several other avatars on a building not far off watching. The gallery. He’d forgotten all about that! Was Lisa over there? He desperately hoped not, if he lost, he’d never hear the end of it.  Besides ,  losing when he was the challenger just wasn’t an option!

Emerald Buckler snorted this time. “You serious? Okay then, go for it! I’m sure the gallery will enjoy the show.”

“Ready?” Rick asked

“Waiting on  you newb.” She wasn’t in any kind of stance, her arms down.

“Oh, that as it! Rick charged across the roof at full speed, a battle cry ripping from his chest. “ Raghhh !”

Emerald Buckler simply stood there, not lifting her shields that were hands. Perfect! She underestimated him! He decided to try the combo that had worked against Viper earlier. About ten feet away, he abruptly raised his right hand.

“Tarnished Arrow!”

The arrow flew, fast and straight, directly at Emerald Buckler’s torso. But she didn’t bother to raise either shield to protect herself. Rick watched the arrow  ping off her chest and clatter the ground.

Unwilling to stop the attack, he tried the same strategy anyway. Stooping down and pulling back his fist as far as it would go, before  delivering his uppercut right into her breadbasket. 

This time though, the shield rose and blocked the strike. He felt his fist collide with what may as well have been a brick wall. Stunned by the sudden pain tingling in his fingers, he didn’t see the other shield flying towards his face until it was too late.

BONG!

He staggered back several steps before plopping down into a sitting position on street rooftop. He shook his head, trying to get his  equilibrium , back, but his ears were still ringing.

“Huh,” Emerald Buckler said. “Guess you are metallic. That hit should’ve dealt more damage than that.” She shrugged “Ah well.” She slowly rolled towards Rick.” I’m  gonna finish this up. I got stuff to do. But if you want, I’ll be back this way tomorrow at about seven or so. You can get a rematch if you want.”

Rick jumped up and pointed at her. “I have not yet begun to fight!” he boasted, though his fist still smarted. He took a quick glance at Buckler’s HP and noted that her health had fallen by one. Well, that was something at least.

When she was nearly to him, he let loose a quick kick. She reacted by quickly rolling back, then zipping forward as his leg landed, off balance of course. He tried to recover, but the speed at which she moved those shield-arms of hers was impressive and made it difficult to match. Rick did manage to block and avoid a decent amount of strikes, even managing to try an attack  every once in a while , but he was mostly on the defensive. And she managed to connect  more often than not . 

That was okay as far as Rick was  concerned . Because each hit that landed filled his special attack gauge with blue light. He could see her bar filling as well though not as quickly as his, so he wasn’t all that worried, even when his HP dropped below fifty percent and turned yellow.

He was thrown for a loop though, when she suddenly spun on one of her hand-shields and brought her single leg into a kick, slicing across his chest like a buzzsaw. Orange sparks burst out into the air and Rick felt a line of fire burning across the area she had kicked. He flew back several feet and crashed into a large steel block protruding out of the roof; probably an A/C unit in the real. It was a real shock to his system, but he recovered and stood. His special attack bar was full.

Heavy applause erupted on the other  roof; the gallery clearly pleased with what was happening. Well, let them! He wasn’t sure what his  special attack was, but he knew deep down inside that it had to be amazing!

Quickly, he opened his Options Menu and checked the submenu with his attacks. Sure enough, the four question marks were replaced with two words. Mega Arrow.

It didn’t sound all that impressive, but his HP was low, around forty-three percent. Desperation was his ally! He followed the pictured instructions on how to hold his hands, together at the wrists, open I the palms, held out in front of him. 

“Mega Arrow!”

Both palms split open and two halves of a single, regular  looking arrow launched toward his opponent, joining together in mid-flight.

Emerald Buckler seemed to know a special attack when she saw  one and didn’t seem to underestimate this! She held both shields up, guarding almost her entire body. The arrow hit the right hit the right shield, protecting her face, and appeared to  PING off again, but abruptly, a full quarter of her HP dropped.

There was an audible gasp from the gallery, the first kind of surprise they had shown all fight.

“W-well, that was unexpected,” Buckler stammered. Clearly, the Mega Arrow had caught her by surprise. “I can’t imagine the HP I would’ve lost if I hadn’t blocked that thing!”

Rick didn’t say anything. With that single attack, his special attack gauge was zeroed out again. All that damage he’d taken and for what? That? That lame  attack ? All the air blew out of his sails and he  completely deflated. He sat down and leaned back against the all-steel A/C unit and let out a breath.

Emerald Buckler rolled over to him and  knelt down , no mean feat with only one leg. “Don’t take it too hard kid. That’s a killer special attack, you just  have to learn how to use it the right way. Timing is everything you know. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll do all right.”

Rick knew she was trying to be nice, but he barely  understood the words as they came out of her mouth. Instead, all he could think about was how badly he wanted to disappear. It was the one time he wanted his normal boring appearance to kick in, so Emerald Buckler and her gallery would just forget he was there.

“All right folks,” Buckler called out to the gallery, shooing them off, “show’s over. There may be a rematch tomorrow though, so you can look forward to seeing me then!” She waved a shield-hand at them, then turned back to Rick.

“Seriously. Copper Tarnish, boy that’s a mouthful, if you let your first defeat bring you so down, you’ll never make it as a burst linker. So, you lost? Big hairy deal! I lost my first match. Train with your parent tonight or tomorrow and come see me again.  And bring your parent next time. Your first few fights, it’s okay to get pointers.  That's what parents are for, right? For help when you need it?”

She shrugged, looking at her shield-hands. “I’d offer you a hand  up, but I don’t have hands.”

This caused Rick to let out a little chuckle. He looked at the emerald-colored avatar and nodded. “Thanks. Can’t promise my ego will let me challenge you as soon as tomorrow, but I’ll try.” He rose.

“Good enough. Trust me, everyone in Brain  Burst knows about pained egos, what with how our avatars are created and all.”

Rick blinker. “What?” He glanced at the  duel clock; 200 seconds left. Enough for a quick question. “What has to do with our avatar creations Our egos?”

Buckler's forest green eyes widened. “Your parent didn’t tell you? Wha kind of idiot doesn’t tell their child...” She stopped herself, also noticing the time. “Okay really quick now. You remember that nightmare you had the night after installing the game? That was the program  scanning your memories for avatar creation. Your battle avatar is based on  any and all early childhood  traumas and mental scars. Your fears, insecurities and deep-seated self-loathing are also part of it. All of that combines to make you Copper Tarnish.”

“Call me Tarn.” Rick sounded much calmer than he felt. Why  hadn't Lisa told him all this?

“You can call me Buck.” He felt that she was smiling, even though he couldn’t see her face.

YOU LOSE. The letters burned across his vision suddenly, though he was expecting it. He watched ten points get deducted from his burst point total before the scene in front of him, including Buck, slowly faded out.

Rick opened his eyes. He was back in his apartment, sitting on the couch. He was absolutely exhausted. But there was something he needed to talk to Lisa about first. 

As if reading his mind, Lisa called his cell phone from her  neurolinker . As he reached for it on the coffee table, he reached up and disconnected from the global net, leaving him only connected to the local home net.

“What did I tell you!?” she shouted before he could say anything. “I said to wait! Why don’t you ever listen?”

Rick felt like he should defend himself, but he just didn’t have it in him; he was just too tired. Instead, he quickly cleared his throat to get her attention. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“Tell you what?” she demanded.

“About how my  duel avatar was created.” 

There was stunned silence on the other line for about five seconds. “Rick, I-I didn’t think it was all that important. I was  gonna tell you, honest, but I wanted to wait until you had a few victories under your belt.”

“Why? Afraid I might quite if I found out I was fighting other people with a personification of all my worst traits and mental traumas!?” he shouted.

“Oh, grow up!” she shouted back. “You act like you’re the only person in this world that suffers! Because you feel like people ignore you!  Well, I’ll tell you, there are times when most people would agree that it’s a  blessing not to be seen!”

“And I’m so sorry for introducing you to a community of like-minded people who also have deep seeded mental issues!”

Rick responded with silence. He hadn’t considered a blow-up, all things considered, Lisa was usually passive-aggressive and  sarcastic when she was angry, not shout out  loud . He was still angry at her, but not because she had kept the origin of his avatar secret. No, now he was mad because she was right.

Emerald Buckler had had every right to beat him up and gloat over her win after all of his trash talk, but instead she  had encouraged him, given him advice, been nice to him. In most fighters on the net, losers were angry,  petulant , and winners bragged as if winning the lottery. But apparently not in this game.

“Okay,” he grumbled. “Sorry I yelled.”

“As well you should be,” she huffed. He thought he heard a quiet sniffle, but decided not to mention it. “Please don’t duel anyone else tonight. I  still have things to teach you.”

“Yeah. See you at school tomorrow.” He was way too tired to even think about dueling anyone else tonight. “Later.” He hung up and lay down on the couch. He was pretty hungry, so he decided he’d close his eyes for a minute, then heat up that  meatloaf in the fridge.


	6. Chapter 6

Conversation, it seemed, was an art, as Rick fond out the next day. One that he did not possess. Not for lack of trying, but he simply couldn’t think of anything even remotely interesting to talk to Samantha about.

He had ended up napping until almost six in the morning, awaking up only when he rolled off the couch. Getting up off the floor, he groggily noted that it was about half an  hour before he usually got up. He knew that he was going to be sore all day plus he was half-starved.

He reheated the leftover meatloaf and had it for breakfast. It wasn’t half bad. He showered and dressed for school, ready to go about ten minutes earlier than normal, despite talking his time. He plopped down onto the couch and was about to scan the net for an early morning news  reports , but was quickly reminded, due to a severe lack of news feeds, what his  neurolinker wasn’t  connected to the global net.

Normally, a  neurolinker would enter a sleep-mode automatically, when it read your brain waves and noted you  were sleeping. In doing so, it sent a signal to the rest of the house or apartment – to dim the lights, shut off any music, or anything of the like. Of course, it only did this if your  neurolinker was connected to the local home net.

But if you fell asleep with your  neurolinker on, it didn't disconnect from the global net automatically. Something like that had to be done manually.

Rick was glad he’d shut off his connection the day before; he didn’t think he could’ve handled a duel first thing in the morning. Especially not after the thrashing he had gotten from Buck in the Accelerated World, and then the tongue lashing he’d gotten over the phone from Lisa afterwards. That was a rough tag team.

Before sleep had taken him. He'd actually considered uninstalling Brain  Burst , but something stopped him. He couldn’t be sure what it was, but a nagging voice in the back of his head wouldn’t shut up. For a brief moment, he thought the game might’ve gotten in his head and was controlling him!

But then he realized that the voice in his head was his own. He just couldn't leave things between him and Emerald Buckler like this. True, he didn’t know the girl at all – she sounded like a high schooler – but she had talked to him, tried to help him after the fight, instead of finishing him off when she had every right to do so; it was a fighting game after all. He just couldn’t repay  that kindness with  cowardice .

At school, before classes started, Lisa informed him that she had training for during lunch since he was so anxious to start dueling. He calmy reminded her that he had plans with Samantha Watt at lunch time today, to which she responded that with the Accelerated World, they could literally spend hours together and only seconds would pass.

Crap. He really didn’t relish  whatever training Lisa had in mind. 

Which of course, meant that the day spend along at a steady pace, even though normally school days crawled by slowly. Lunch time was there before he  knew it.

The bell hadn’t even finished ringing before that keening, grinding sound echoed in his ears and flaming letters flashed across his vision.

HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER!

Wow, Lisa really wanted to do this training!

He watched his school avatar be covered by his armored body suit and looked around. The schools all had CSN cameras covering almost every square inch inside and out, so instead of an empty void or being forced outside, he remained in... the classroom?

Except... yes, that was strange. It appeared everything was covered in a light sheen of marble. Or no, it was actually  made of marble. Stalagmites and stalactites  grew out of the ceiling and floor and the glass in the windows faded, leaving  vaguely square-shaped holes in the wall where sunlight shone through.

It was the only light source in this caver. And cavern it was. It reminded Rick of when his father took him to the Mammoth Caves in Tennessee  when he was eight; his only trip out of the state. Was this an underground stage?

Well, he was starting to understand the stages at least. Clearly, they were randomly generated when a duel started, but there couldn’t be an infinite number, could there? It stood to reason that eventually he’d start to see repeats; it was only his third time in a duel  after all.

“Hey!” the voice of Lisa – Viper – called from outside. “Get your rusty butt out here! We got stuff to do! I’m not spending any more than four points for this  training got it?

Four points? That was two hours! Sighing, Rick was about to climb  out the window but remembered that he was an armored fighter here, so he attempted a head-first dive out of the second-floor window. He just barely avoided crashing head first into the wall  instead .

It was the longest two hours Rick could remember. Not that it wasn’t interesting; it was certainly that!  Informative too! Lisa talked about everything she knew about Brain Burst, as a game and a lifestyle.

She told him of a special place called the Unlimited Neutral Field, not just a dueling stage, but an entire world to explore with no time limit. Sure, it cost ten burst points to go, but you could stay for as long as you wanted; some players stayed days, weeks, even years. Since it was accelerated time, twenty-four hours in the real world equaled three whole years in the Unlimited Neutral Field. The only catch was you had to be level 4 to access it. Rick as fascinated and listed with rapt attention,  knowing that this was something to look forward to.

Viper discussed the various stages, each with different attributes. She also explained how much of the terrain and buildings were  destructible and could charge your special attack bar, but that the ground was almost completely invulnerable. Even in stages where the earth was cracked, you couldn’t move the  broken pieces of it, though a tricky burst linker could maybe stuff an opponent in a crevasse!

She talked about the specific colors of the avatars, each having an attribute  it specialized in. For instance, green colors had high  defense , while blue had amazing close combat abilities and red was  unmatched in long range weapons. Yellow tended to veer more towards deception and illusion and purple had the strongest special attacks. And any colors that combined into another color had some of the powers of both.

But metallics had their own color  scheme . On one end of the spectrum, gold had almost complete immunity to special attacks, while on the other side, iron tended to have the best defenses against physical attacks. And according to  Viper , on the metal wheel she’d seen, there was even a color past iron, maybe steel? She wasn’t sure.

And then they trained. All of that information and Rick’s questions didn’t even take up the entire first half an hour. So, for an hour and forty minutes, Copper Tarnish and Indigo Viper fought, discussed strategy, and generally learned what he could do. And she informed him that at his earliest  convenience , he would rechallenge Emerald Buckler and  win .

After his really long two hours – under eight seconds in the real world – Rick made his way to the cafeteria. Even though it hadn’t  really been two hours of physical training, his brain told him it had been and that he was ravenous. He bought two chicken patties, an extra side of fries, and even splurged on an ice-cream cone. Luckily, his powers of blandness seemed to be working because nobody commented on the amount of food on his tray, not even the cafeteria ladies.

Despite the amount of food, he polished it off in record time. As soon as he finished his milk, he leaned back and went into a full-dive, entering the school’s homepage, his avatar landing softly on its feet. Now where was the theater homepage again? As he searched, he wondered how Samantha was going to get there alone; she was always followed around by her friends. How would she get away?

Not for the first time, Rick wondered if this was a trick of some kind. A play to make fun of him, make jokes about how he thought he had a chance with Samantha Watt;  him ! But he’d resolved to see this through, better or worse, so when he found the right tunnel, he took a deep breath and exhaled as he  stepped through it. 

And there she was, sitting on the apron of the stage, feet dangling over the edge. 

The drama club’s homepage was a  literal copy of the school’s auditorium, minus the orchestra pit. It was usually used when the drama club needed to rehearse, but the stage was otherwise occupied, like for PTA meetings, or when they were  building a set.

“Afternoon Rick.” she said.

He checked his digital readout and, yes, it was 12:01. “Hey, uh, good afternoon.”

“Do you mean that the afternoon is good? Or that it’s an afternoon to be goon on? Or... oh shoot! I can never remember that line! Guess that’s why I’m not in the drama club huh?

She laughed. “The Hobbit is one of my favorite books though! I even have a paper book edition I got from a used book store last year.”

Rick wasn’t on the stage, didn’t dare get too close, knowing that if he did, this dream might be over. All of his fatigue from his training vanished and was replaced with a vibrant life force. He simply stood there, looking at the pretty girl on the apron. He was quite glad there was no orchestra pit so he could be this close.

She smiled and patted the area next to her. “You can sit, you know. It’s all right.” 

He replied with a sheepish smile of his own and  scratched the back of his head nervously. “I don’t feel like I’m worthy of that. I haven’t earned it.”

Her eyes opened wide. “Worthy? Rick, I like flattery as much as the next girl, but I think that’s going a tad too far, don’t oyu? I mean, I’m not a princess  or anything !”

“Sorry,” he muttered, sitting next to her, hands in his lap, back ram-rod straight. There were about three inches between them, per the  regulating software of the local school net, which wouldn’t let avatars get any closer than that to  each other .

“Please,” she said, “treat me like a regular person. Everyone teats me like some sort of celebrity because of my family, but that’s them and I’m me. I’d like to be treated normal.”

“Too much normal can be a curse.” Rick mused, staring straight ahead at nothing.

Samantha gave a sad smile. “Sadly, I wouldn’t know. And you’re not so extra-normal as you think you are. In fact, your hair is what got my attention. Out in the real world, I mean. It seems messy, even tangled sometimes, but up close it’s actually quite tame.  It kind of fascinates me. I have to brush mine for ever to keep it straight so it doesn’t snarl.” Her hands twirled around her voluminous, if digital hair. “I sometimes wish I could get it cut short, like a  boy’s . It would be so much easier to manage, you know?”

Rick had no clue how to respond to this. His hair? That was what caught her attention? But he didn’t do anything with his hair! He washed it, sure, and occasionally brushed it when he thought about it, but by and large it just sat there! And then, she said she wanted to cut hers short? The thought horrified him!

“I like your hair the way it is!” he spurted suddenly, surprising both of them. “Uh... I mean... it’s glossy and reflects the light real nicely. I like it when your hair looks... uh... shiny...” He trailed off, cursing his own  idiocy .  Why couldn’t he speak like an adult?

Samantha smiled. “Thanks. I wasn’t serious about cutting it, my mother would have a fit. It’s just a thought I have sometimes.”

There was silence for a few seconds.

“So... uh...” Rick stammered, trying to start a conversation, “are you going to try for the U.S. Open when you’re old enough? 

She rolled her eyes. “Could we  not talk about tennis? Please?”

He lowered his head.

“Sorry,” she said quietly. “It’s just... in my family, you have to excel, have to be the best at something, whether its academic, athletics, or entertainment. Did you know my parents actually have the school send them a video file of all my virtual practices to make sure I’m maintaining a high standard? If it looks like I’m slacking even a little, I get a lecture!  And don’t get me started on what happens if it looks like I’m not taking  actual practice seriously!” she huffed.

Rick shook his head. “No, I didn’t know that.” Even if it was because they cared, that seemed a little controlling.

She perked up. “ Of course you  didn’t, how could you? But it’s okay. Whenever I’m stressed. I have a private sanctuary I go to. Maybe one day, I’ll show it you, eh?” She winked. 

Rick actually gulped, blushing slightly. “Uh, anyway, I’m glad you chose to talk with me. I mean there’s any number of other people who would love to sit here one on one with you.

She cocked an eyebrow. “And you don’t?” 

“Ah! No! N-nothing like that.” he stammered. The question caught him off guard. “No that’s why I said I was glad. I just don’t understand why you picked me. Like I said, there's any number of  good-looking guys at our school and I’m just... so plain.”

“You’re  not ugly.” 

“I’m not hot either. I’m just north of blah.”

Samantha tried to put her hand on top of his head, but the image software wouldn’t allow it. Luckily, the movement caught Rick’s attention and he turned to look at the serious expression on her face.”

“Hot is  overrated .” she had plainly.

He smirked at that. “ Sure it is.”

“I’m serious. I went through the hot guy phase not all that long ago but it didn’t take me long to realize that you can’t count on most of them. Not when you need them most. You can’t trust most of them either. They know how they look. It’s a serious pain.

And also, I’m not out boyfriend hunting you know. I just though you looked a little lonely when you watched me at practices and that you might like a friend. So could I.” She shrugged. “Two birds and all that.”

Rick couldn’t really argue with that. A small problem was still poking around in the back of his mind though. “I wasn’t trying to suggest that you were... uh, interested in me that way. I just didn’t want your reputation to get smudged because I’m not a jock or anything.”

“Because I care what middle school students think about me.” She looked into his eyes. “And I never said I wasn’t interested in you; I just don’t know you yet.  All I know is what your friend Lisa told me, so I thought a nice  talk would be good.”

Lisa had told her about him!? Why? Even so, he found her attitude very mature.

“Anyway,” she continued, “do you want my email address? Or the address to my home page so we can chat in full dive? That way, if either of us have a problem and need to talk to someone, we can.”

“S-sure,” he stammered. This seemed unreal to him. Not only did she imply – sort of – that she might be interested in him, but now they were exchanging email addresses? This kind of thing just didn’t happen in Rick’s world. Ever.

“Be forewarned,” Samantha suddenly cautioned, “my parents scan my emails regularly for inappropriate content and they have several tracer programs, so I doubt it’ll be much trouble for them to find you. And I’m not a particular fan of that sort of thing anyway, just in case you were thinking of sending me anything you shouldn’t.” She was smiling at Rick while saying all this, but the look in her eyes sent a chill down  his spine all the same.

“Not that I think you would,” she quickly added. “From what I can tell from this conversation, you seem the perfect gentleman, just like she told me.”

Rick blinked. She? Lisa again? But wait, what was that she said before? About sending inappropriate content? “Are you nuts?” he spouted. “My dad would skin me alive if I sent something like that to a girl! Or to anyone!”

Samantha, Sam as he had started to think of her, chuckled. “And your mom?”

His smile faltered. “My mom’s not... around anymore. She was hit by a car when I was young. She’s gone.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” Sam quickly said.

“No, it's okay. Like I said, I was young, so I don’t really remember her much. My dad says I have her eyes.”

She gazed into his eyes and nodded. “They are pretty extraordinary, I must say. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that shade of blue-green before.” She patted him on the shoulder or would have if the school software hadn’t prevented it. “I’m liking this conversation with you Rick, and I’d like to have more of them in the future, if that’s all right with you.”

He nodded dumbly.” T-that sounds great to me.”

“You’re surprisingly mature for a thirteen-year-old boy.” she commented.

He chuckled. “You seem surprised.”

“Well, girls tend to mature faster than boys, you know” She smiled again.

Wasn’t that what Lisa had told me to cover up her rising mental  abilities due to using Brain Burst? He though. But then that smile happened. It dazzled him and he had trouble remembering everything else they talked about. And before he knew it, the five-minute warning sounded and he and Samantha Watt were saying their good-bye and the rest of his day went by in a blur.


	7. Chapter 7

Rick did  not rechallenge Emerald Buckler that night. Instead, he disconnected his  neurolinker from the global net and spent the evening with his father. And while they didn’t do anything particularly special – dinner and a movie, just like Rick predicted – it was still a special night, since it was a rare occurrence. Plus, the pizza at Bertolli’s was amazing.

No, his rematch with Buck came around 2:00 PM the next afternoon. It had been a lazy Saturday and he wasn’t feeling all that active so he decided to get started  on a report due later that week. Not even thinking about it, he reconnected his  neurolinker to the global net and went to a local news site, in an effort to find ay articles about -

The sound of metal screamed in his ears; KREEEEE!  And blazing  letters appeared in front of him. HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER!

Dammit! He wasn’t ready yet! He still had to psych himself up for this! He’d been thrashed last time, and there was no guarantee that Emerald Buckler was even the one challenging him!

He watched his avatar transform into Copper Tarnish again. As soon as that was complete, he was suddenly thrust from his house in to ankle deep snow. The entire neighborhood was carpeted by foot-thick snow drifts, and every building had been turned into crystal clear glaciers, transparent canyon walls of ice snow.

Well, he would certainly stand out in a snow stage! His  reddish -brown armor against a backdrop of sheer white? He wouldn’t be able to hide if he dug twenty feet underground! Luckily, hiding wasn’t his plan. Unfortunately, his mobility would be hampered with the snow so thick.

A blue arrow pointed directly down the street, showing him where his opponent was, and he knew from the opposing HP gauge that it was indeed Emerald Buckler. He sighed in relief; then a thought occurred to him. Had she been sitting around all day waiting for him to show up? That seemed a bit excessive to Rick.

He started walking calmly down the street and stopped when the arrow  disappeared . The image of an avatar was just visible, a small dot in the distance, getting bigger and bigger, until Buck stopped twenty feet away from him.

“You could’ve come to me you know!” she sputtered, sounding out of breath. “My wheels don’t work so good in the snow! We only got 1800 seconds to begin with, and now we got less!”

Rick started. Boy, did she sound like a New Yorker. “Did you miss me that much?”

She scoffed. “I was just worried you  wussed out. You can’t go standing up ladies of my caliber!”

“I had other plans last night. Then today I didn’t know when you’d be around, so I didn’t know when we could duel.  But you solved my problem for me, so thanks! And also, thanks for that... pep talk the other day. You gave me a lot to think about. And I think my parent is in the gallery, so she’s gonna cheer me on today!”

He got into position. “Bring it.” If Buck’s speed was slowed by the terrain, then that was an advantage he couldn’t ignore.

Then, any plans he had of outrunning her vanished in a puff of smoke.

Instead of rolling towards him on her ankle wheels, she used the shields on her arms to lean forward then lifted her leg and swung across the ground like a gorilla! And it was  super-fast !

Crap! Rick tried to think. His training the other day had focused on unorthodox movement and attacks. Too bad he had trouble thinking under pressure!  Think! Think! Wow, she’s moving fast!

Almost directly in front of him now, she reared up on her arms, her leg tucked up to her chest, and kicked out, directly at Rick’s torso. Almost by accident, he side-stepped the spinning wheels – which he noticed for the first time were actually identical to the shields in her hands – just barely nicking his chest. Bright orange sparks shot from the hit though the damage wasn’t bad. It  turned out that these shield wheels of hers were as sharp as power saws. Great.

As if by instinct, Rick lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her one, thick leg, and swung her around using her own momentum against her, throwing her to the side of the road. She flew several feet, into one of the ice walls that used to be  a building . There was a noticeable drop to her HP bar.

What did I just do? He mused, looking at his hands.  And how can I do it again? Then he heard cheers coming from the top of the glacier. He looked up and saw them; the gallery.

“Good throw Tarn!”

“Give ‘er what for!”

“Keep it up bro! You got this!”

They were cheering for him.  Him.

A  groan forced him to quickly shift his attention back to his opponent  who as picking herself of the snow. “That was unexpected,” she moaned. “Damn Tarn! What kind of training did you do yesterday? I need to meet your parent!”

“That... was probably an accident,” Rick stammered. “it won’t happen again.”

“Oh, I have no doubt it’ll happen again; you just gotta get some battle reflexes is all.

It just means that I can’t kick out like that again. Better go slow to be safe.” She rolled forward moving much slower than she had before, the snow impeding her progress. Still, she moved fast enough, and Rick got ready to defend when he got an idea.

“Tarnished Arrow!” He thrust his hand forward and a small arrow shot out of his  palm .

Reflexively, Buck raised her shield and the projectile bounce off of it. Still one HP dropped from her bar. She started at that. 

“What? I blocked that! How did it still deal damage?” She seemed very confused and had stopped her forward movement.

Rick stood proudly, hands on his hips. “my Tarnished Arrow always deals exactly one point of damage, whether it’s blocked or  not !” He decided not to  mention that she should probably just avoid the arrows.

Emerald Buckler nodded. “That’s a heck of a good attack. And dangerous. It don’t seem like much, but in a pinch, it can be the difference between victory or defeat. Too bad it uses your own HP as fuel.”

Rick chuckled, “You noticed, huh? Well then, I guess it’s a good thing for me that my HP is higher than yours. With your speed slowed, I can avoid you and ping away at your health. And I’ll always stay on top!”

She nodded again. “True, true. Unless I deal more damage to you.”

“Uh... true?”

Buck launched forward using her ape-lunges faster than Rick could've imagined possible and was on him in a second. “never let your guard down, even if you think you’ve won.” she growled.

“Dammit. Viper said the same thing!” he thought.

She started whirling and twirling her arm-shields in a blur of green, some missing most connecting, all carving  chunks from Rick’s HP bar. He tried to get a counter attack in, but the girl was all shields! That wasn’t fair!

It took a good minute or two, but Rick finally managed to pick but a pattern in the way she swung her arms. Somehow, he was able to capitalize on a split-second where she was open and grabbed one arm at the wrist, the other at the bicep. Quickly, he swept the leg out from under her and she  slipped to the side on the slick terrain. Taking the opportunity, he jumped back away from her onslaught; he didn’t think the people in the gallery would approve of cheap shots while she was down.

His special attack gauge wasn’t full but it was getting there. Gritting his teeth, he watched her rise again and he  readied himself.

Use the terrain! The voice of Viper shouted in his head. He looked up at the gallery, but couldn’t see if she was  there or not.

Buck was heading towards him again, shields scooping large amounts of snow as she launched herself forward. Sticking his foot under a particularly frozen chunk of snow and ice, he waited until the last second, her arms and torso forward, leg fully extended back, before  flicking the entire mass into her face. For once, his timing was perfect, scoring a direct hit, causing no real damage, but  blinding her and causing her to stop.

Using the opening, Rick grabbed the back of her head with both hands and brought her face down into his knee, which he’d kicked out. He let go of her head, letting it fly back. Quicker than he thought he could move, Rick was suddenly behind her and using his hands clasped together, brought them down hard, clubbing her in the back of her head. She fell face first into the snow, arms splayed out in front of her prone form.

He didn’t run this time. Instead, he grabbed her leg and began to spin around. Unfortunately, her shield-wheels began to whirl at top speed and he let go as sparks flew from his chest a second time this fight. He let go early and she landed softly in the snow, her momentum not enough to force her into another glacier.

The sound of Buck laughing echoed around the ice canyon they were in. “Boy, someone had a double helping of Wheaties at breakfast this morning! You can’t see it, but I’m smiling. I knew there was something I liked about you!”

Rick’s HP was at around sixty-five percent while Buck’s was at just under that. With only 400 seconds left on the clock, he could try to avoid her, get with a Tarnished Arrow or two, and let the time run out, but that sat wrong with him for some reason. This wasn’t a regular fighting game where winning was all there was; this was a genuine human experience and winning cheap would be considered cheap.

Buck didn’t seem angry or upset that she was losing. On the contrary, she seemed enthused. Their HP was close and she knew that the fight might come down to the wire. And the gallery w asn’t picking side; they just wanted a good fight.

Well, he was going to try and give them one! Buck’s special attack bar was full though so he needed to be extra careful. “Tarnished Arrow!” He was hoping for a distraction, but Emerald Buckler dodged it while maneuvering through the snow to get close to him.

“I’m really a close-range fighter anyway,” he thought. He balled up his fists and ran toward her, sliding past, then behind her with his better control in the snow.  Time for a heavy hit!

“Gemstone Breakdance!” she called out. Her body began to spin, flip,  and all-around space out, flinging her arms and leg all over the place, so fast it was hard to see. Likewise, with all the flipping and spinning her battle skirt’s spike began to rise, making it difficult to get close.

Not that it mattered to Rick since as soon as one of her shields hit him, he went sailing straight up into the air. Then, before he could land, another shield connected sending him even higher!

He remembered an old game from his grandfather's time he’d downloaded called Tekken. It featured a character named Eddie that used dancing to fight. Buck looked sort of like that; not that he could admire it from the air. Rick realized that he was being juggled across the snowy canyon, being led to another glacier. Her special gauge was dropping rapidly, but so was his HP. Considering this, he managed to see a large icicle on an edge of the glacier, maybe the buildings fire escape? It didn’t matter; it gave Rick an idea.

After another hit, while about thirty feet in the air, he reached out and just barely grabbed hold of the ice spike. His HP bar was at about forty five percent. That was a heck of an attack!

Emerald Buckler stopped spinning and looked up at him clutching the icicle. “Say, that’s pretty good! Not just anyone can get out of that combo you know. How long can you hold on though? Even with the snow, you’ll take fall damage and time’s almost up.”

Rick glanced at the clock and saw he had 193 seconds left. But his plan relied on this; Buck had to believe he was  desperate . He just hoped it worked. As far as he knew, only Viper knew about his Cat Fall ability, which allowed him to always land on his feet if he wanted and negated fall damage up to six stories,  sixty feet.

He began to squirm on the icicle, making it look like he was trying to maintain his grip. Then, he let go, back first. 

The entire gallery let out an audible gasp and Buck backed up, not wanting the prone Copper tarnish to land on her. Perfect.

At the last second, he twisted around and landed perfectly in the snow, kneeling directly in front of Buck’s exposed torso. The green avatar was so shocked, she  didn't move, even as Rick thrust his open palms in her chest.

“Mega Arrow!” he shouted as loud as he could.

HIs special attack bar instantly emptied and a hole appeared in Emerald Buckler’s back as the arrow exploded out between her shoulder blades and continued into the sky. The force of the attack pushed her back, throwing her onto the ground, snow piling around her. Her HP bar was just over five percent.

There was silence for about five seconds before the gallery exploded into a massive round of cheers. Rick stood slowly, not sure how to react. He’d never been cheered before. He walked over to the prone Buck, debating whether or not to finish her off. But she hadn’t when she had the chance, so he decided to return the favor. It looked like she was having trouble moving anyway.

He waved to the gallery, which set off more cheers, then  knelt next to Buck. She sat up, groaning.

“Hell of a show you put on, Tarn.”

Rick waved her off. “I just got lucky your speed was cut in the snow. In another stage, you’d slaughter me. Again.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” she chided. “You had more focus this time around. Last time, you were distracted by every little thing, a common reaction in a first timer. And you used the terrain the right way this time.

“Don’t worry. We’ll fight again soon; count on it.”

YOU WIN!

Blazing letters flashed across his eyes as the timer reached zero. He watched as his burst points increased by ten; the points he’d lost in the last fight. He quickly invited Emerald Buckler to his gallery list and watched as the stage and avatar faded.

And then he was on his couch. He blinked. What was he about to do again? That duel had been  really abrupt and ruined his train of thought! Though he was pleased with his first official victory, he was worried that dueling might start straining his memory.

And these were just regular duels! What would happen when he started diving into the Unlimited Neutral Field? Did people have some sort of memorization trick? They  must, after all if people could spend as much time as they wanted in the UNF they had to have  some way of remembering what they were doing in the real world.

His cell phone range and he knew it was Lisa before even looking at the caller ID. 

“That was amazing!” she said before he could say anything. “I thought you were a goner when she was busting you up in the air! That move of hers is a killer; I’ve seen it before. But you grabbed that icicle and di a controlled drop! It was awesome! Plus, no one saw it coming! Ha! And to think, I almost went to visit my cousin in the Bronx today!”

Rick couldn’t really respond. His life up to this point hadn’t  prepared him for a  barrage of comments, especially from Lisa. “Uh, thanks?” This kind of attention actually made him kind of uncomfortable, it was so uncommon.

“Okay!” Lisa continued, “good job. Now when you’re ready, go find someone else, either tonight or tomorrow, and do it again. Only challenge level 1 and 2 avatars, for some experience. Win or lose, you learn something about Brain Burst and yourself. And after today’s fight, people will start talking about you and any hot shot under level 4 will want a piece of you so be ready!”

“Under level 4?”

“Usually, when you gain access to the Unlimited Neutral Field, you try not to  duel level 1s;  it's kinda beneath you,  ya know?”

That  made sense to him.

“But anyway, disconnect and then reconnect when you’re ready to go again. Go to a park or something. You’ll have no problem finding an opponent on the weekend.”

Rick had no doubt, but as Lisa hung up, he didn’t disconnect his  nerolinker from the global net. Not yet, anyway, because he noticed that he’d gotten his first email from Sam. And it as only two words long.

I KNOW.


	8. Chapter 8

Nervous. 

That was really the only word Rick could use to describe how he felt right then and there, standing next to a park bench at Tompkins Square Park, waiting for Sam that afternoon. That was where she had told him to meet her, anyway, in the follow up email she’d sent right after the first. He didn’t even question it. 

Fortunately, Tompkins Square Park was close by and with Ubers being so cheap since the abolishing of gasoline-powered cars, it cost him little to get there. Granted, not every city in America was so progressive, even though most of the rest of the world had eliminated the use of fossil fuels. Big oil still had its hands in politics, so the nation had made it the responsibilities of the states, rather than making it federal. Therefore, states like Texas would continue the use of oil until they couldn’t any more. 

The only reason Rick knew any of that was because of the U.S. History report he’d had earlier that year, when he pulled Texas out of a hat. 

Rick sighed. Earlier that year? Hell, last week seemed like an eternity ago. Everything since Brain Burst had seemed slow and plodding, not able to keep up with his new reality. And he had just started1 He couldn’t imagine what it would be like playing the game for months, like Lisa. No wonder she seemed irritable lately; real life sucked compared to Brain Burst. 

“Rick,” a small voice said next to him. He flinched, looking at the source of the voice and saw Sam’s half-smile on her pretty face. “Sorry if I startled you.” 

He blinked. “It’s okay. I was just... thinking of something.” 

“I know my email was... abrupt, but I need you to trust me and follow.” She held out her hand and he noticed the calluses from her tennis racket. “Please?” 

It was then that Rick realized this was his first time truly meeting Samantha Watt. He’d only ever seen her avatar on the school net before. And she wanted him to take her hand? Her hair was tied back in a pony-tail and she wore a white polo shirt and khaki skirt that went to her knees. Very neat and tidy, but not something you’d expect a thirteen-year-old to be wearing on a Saturday afternoon. Did her parents dress her? 

Sam noticed him looking at her and blushed. “Sorry. My folks do all my shopping.” 

“That’s fine. Actually, it suits you,” He shuffled his feet. “It’s nice to finally meet the real you.” 

“You too,” she replied. “Truly, it is.” 

He sensed she was being completely genuine. The soft look in her tan eyes couldn’t seem to tell a lie. And with that, he took his hand – his plain, boring super normal hand – and put it in hers. 

Her returning smile was all the reward he needed. “Come with me.” 

She led him on a twisting path, first leaving the park and heading south, down East Village, then west until they came out on 1st Avenue. Next was north to 14th street. But then Sam took them through a series of alleyways in all directions until Rick was all turned around. It was clear she thought they might have been followed, but he couldn’t understand why she might think that. What did this have to with what she claimed to know? 

Eventually, they came out on 7th street, near Salat Vincent’s Hospital. There, they went south through Greenwich Village, crossed over to the Avenue of the Americas, and continued south until they got to Soho. After the first ten minutes, Rick stopped paying attention really, content to let Sam just lead him by the hand. 

Soho had over the last twenty years gone through a major renovation in terms of the shops available. What if used to be, Rick didn’t know, but as long as he’d been alive. Soho had been the hub of anything electronic on the east coast of the U.S. Like Seattle on the West Coast if you wanted the newest gadgets the most up to the date electronic equipment you came to one of the many shops here. 

Not just electronics stores, but dozens of full-dive cafes and gaming bars were in the area, as well plenty of hotels and motels, some that rented by the hour. This meant that there very could be several burst linkers nearby, waiting to duel. He was glad he’d not reconnected his neurolinker after receiving Sam’s emails. 

And in what seemed both an eternity and no time at all, Sam released his hand and Rick snapped back into himself. He found himself standing in front of an electronic store but nothing about it looked new or recent, instead it appeared to be a relic of the twentieth century, old fashioned near lights flashing on and off. The sign out front read “Gizmos.” 

Sam opened the door and motioned for Rick to enter. He did so nervously; was this some sort of set up? Was Sam a PKer like Lisa had warned him about? He blinked his eyes adjusting to the dimmer indoor lights. His neurolinker tried to auto-adjust so he could see properly but it couldn’t seem to get just right, so Rick accessed his digital keyboard and disabled the option, letting his vision adjust themselves. 

“Afternoon, Ahmal!” Sam called out cheerfully. 

“Ah! Young Miss Sam!” a jovial voice replied. “And what can I do for you this fine day?” 

Rick looked and saw a large middle-eastern man in jeans and flannel shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His gray beard contrasted against his deep tan skin and he had a huge smile on his face, arms outstretched as he approached. He also looked to be about three-hundred pounds. 

“I’m sorry, Ahmal but can we use your backroom?” She said it so quickly, Rick almost thought she said bathroom. 

“But of course, my dear!” he said wrapping her in a big bear hug. “Anything! Take as long as you need! Please!” 

She motioned for Rick to follow and trotted off, towards the back of the store. Rick waved at the owner, Ahmal and followed. “Nice to meet your sir.” 

That eyebrow set Rick to thinking. Clearly her knew Sam, and liked her but he didn’t know Rick, and the two of them would be in his “backroom” whatever that was. Maybe he was debating keeping an eye on them? It was his store, so he could if he wanted to. 

He almost walked into Sam who was holding open the door to the room. “Sorry about that” she said quietly. “Ahmal’s a family friend and he’s kind of protective of me and my siblings.” 

The room was rather small about the size of Rick’s kitchen – which wasn’t anywhere near large – but didn’t appear to be a break room for employees. In fact, the amount of wires and cables bolted to the walls made it look more like a secure room, unable to connect to the global net wirelessly. On this hunch, Rick attempted to connect his neurolinker but couldn’t get a signal. 

“It’s exactly what you think.” Sam said, sitting next to a small table with a large computer hub on it. He sat in a chair on the other side at table, not sure what was a about to happen. 

“This is a secure room. It can’t be bugged no can cameras work here and we can’t be heard through the walls with any advanced sonic detectors short of military grade. We should be able to talk without fear of eavesdroppers.” 

“Who would eavesdrop on a conversation between to seventh graders?” he asked. “And talk about what? What’s all this about?” 

She sighed. “Brain Burst, of course.” 

But... hadn’t Lisa said it was impossible for Sam to be a burst linker? Her name hadn’t been on the Challenge Board. He needed to be absolutely sure, before revealing he knew what she was talking about though how would she even know the name unless... 

“Brain Burst?” he asked innocently. “Sounds like some educational thing to me.” 

Sam grinned. “I know. Big secret! It’s a pain to prove to someone else right?” She opened a small drawer in the table and pulled out two XBS cables. “Shall we?” 

“!” Rick couldn’t believe it! Sam, Samantha Watt, was asking him to direct with her!? Well, it was an indirect directing since it was through a hub, but still! 

“Calm down,” she smirked. “as you’ve seen, plugging into this hub is the only way to access the global net from this room. Plus, it has other protections built in, for instance, any visitors directing with you need to be granted permission before accessing any files. Okay? Neither of us are all that exposed to each other unless we want to be.” 

Rick nodded sheepishly while he plugged into the hub. Of course, he knew it was the only way to connect to the net, but is imagination certainly loved to run wild. He took the XBS cable and was about to plug it into his neurolinker before Sam gently touched his wrist. He looked up to see her looking at him. 

“Doing this means I trust you.” 

What the heck did that mean? He connected his neurolinker to the hub and brushed away the red warning on his AR screen. 

“It’s on me,” Sam said quietly. “Burst Link.” 

Rick’s school avatar now stood in a blue box with no features, his actual body not visible due to the lack of cameras. Sam’s avatar also stood there too, not her school avatar but her personal avatar used in her home’s private local net. She wore traditional tennis garb, complete with a headband and tennis racket. 

She glared at Rick. “Before you say anything-” 

“-Parents?” Rick finished, holding up his hands. 

“Gee, that obvious?” 

“Lucky guess.” He looked around the blue box. “So, you too huh?” 

Sam hung her head and let out an airy laugh. “Yeah.” 

“How long?” 

She raised her head and looked into his odd-colored eyes. “Years.” 

Years? Even Lisa said she’d been a burst linker for five months or so. But years? That seemed... impossible. Plus, something was bugging him. 

“So, you know the other burst linker in our school, right? 

“Lisa? Oh yes, I know her well. Like I said, she talks about you a lot. We’re very close.” 

This irritated Rick. Why hadn’t Lisa told him the other day that she and Lisa were friends? 

“I asked her not to say anything about our friendship,” Sam said quickly. “Don't be mad at her, please. I needed to talk with you myself, with now filter, to see if I could trust you or not. I had to get to know you.” 

Rick groaned. “That’s why Lisa told me there were no other burst linkers at school,” he put two and two together,” and I never bothered to cheek the Challenge Board myself!” 

“You wouldn’t have seen my name anyway,” she commented off-handedly. “Not unless I wanted you to. I gained an ability at level 5 called Transparency that bides my name on duel lists unless I deactivate it. It makes sneak attacks very easy.” 

Did she say level 5? “Oh, what level are you now?” 

“I’m sure Lisa told you. About the burst linker that’s at level 8, about to become level 9?” 

So many things had happened to Rick that week, he had trouble remembering his own name. Out in the back of his head he had a vague recollection on Lisa’s school bus of her mentioning such a thing. His eyes grew wide. 

She was level 8? About to be level 9? 

“Actually,” she interrupted his thoughts.” I have the points to level up now, but I’m working on my buffer. It’s unlikely anyone would challenge a level 9, but you can’t take risks, you know? And if I should lose, the number of points I would lose would be staggering.” 

There were hundreds of questions he could’ve asked, but one dominated the others. 

“What's your name? Your avatar I mean. I can I see it?” He had to know. 

A smile crept up Sam’s face. “I thought you’d never ask,” She fiddled with the digital keyboard only she could see and soon, familiar words appeared in Rick’s vision. 

A NEW CHALLENGER HAS ARRIVED! 

Rick found himself in a grassy field at twilight, massive trees the size of buildings jutting into the sky, a gentle wind blowing. But all that paled to the sight in front of him. 

The avatar stood around 5’5” or so and wore what looked like a gown of pure, pink glass. The gown was strapless and sleeveless, the avatar's skin – it didn’t look like the normal armor the other avatars had – was completely transparent. It emitted a light glow. 

She had an eyeless, mouthless face, though it didn't detract from her appearance in the least, and from the top of her head sprouted a healthy amount of hair that looked like it was spun from pure silver. From her back sprouted three pairs of wings and on her feet were silver high heels. All in all, she was the most unbattle-like avatar her could possibly think of. 

He looked at her HP bar to see her name. 

CRYSTAL SERAPH. 

“I thought you said you weren’t a princess,” he whispered. 

“I’m not,” she replied quietly. “I’m sure my child told you how avatars were made? How you don’t get to choose?” 

Her child? Emerald Buckler had told him how avatars were made, but no. No, she had said it earlier, hadn’t she? 

Lisa? Oh yes, I know her well. We’re very close. 

“Lisa? I mean, Viper? She’s your child?” 

Sam nodded. 

That explained a lot. He shuffled his foot on the ground and rubbed the back of his head. “I have to say though, you may be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. You look like you were carved out of glass.” 

She ducked her head down at the compliment. “Thanks.” 

“And I didn’t know avatars could be transparent like that,” he continued. “I thought you were either a color or metal. I didn’t know gems were an option. I mean, I guess Emerald Buckler is like you, right? Emeralds are gems and all.” 

Sam shook her head. “No, emerald is also a shade of green. As far as I know, I’m the only duel avatar in the entire Accelerated World not to have a color or metal. I’ve even been to Tokyo, and the avatars I’ve met there were all surprised or scared at an American burst linker.” 

Rick thought that would be an interesting story to hear one day. 

“Crystal isn’t a color or a shade of one, and I don’t know why I’m like this, but I’ve actually faced discrimination because of it. Especially when I win. 

“That was why I tasked Viper with finding the right person to be her child. From the beginning, you were her only choice, even though she didn’t like the idea of adding another person to our twosome. That was about two months ago; I assume she was grooming you to make sure the installation would take. And now, I need you to be level 4 as quickly as possible so you can dive into the Unlimited Neutral Field. I’m naming you and Viper as my personal body guards.” 

Bodyguards!? “Why? You’re level 8! Almost 9! What would you need bodyguards for?” 

“Even level 8 avatars aren't invincible, Copper Tarnish. Send enough level 6s and 7s and they’ll get the job done eventually. 

Oh yeah. In the UNF, there were no duels, you just fought how you wanted, when you wanted since there was no time limit. A large enough group could probably take out a level 8, but why target her in the first place? 

But then he remembered what Lisa had told him when explaining the Kings of the burst linkers in Japan; how they used colors, not metals for their leaders. 

...as obsessed with color as Americans are... 

“It’s the leaders! Uh, the Governors!” he sputtered. “They don’t want a non-metallic to reach level 9, get a legit Legion, become one of them! That’s who’s trying to kill you!” 

She nodded. “Apparently, it's okay to be level 8, me and my freakish avatar. Why, one of our metal overlords might even let me serve them as a bodyguard or assassin! But if the freak wants to become the fifth level 9 in New York City? Heh, that’s blasphemy of the highest order as far as they’re concerned. 

“I haven’t been on the Unlimited Neutral Field in months and I refuse to duel, keeping my name off of the Challenge Board. After all, those sent by the level 9s would simply duel me to exhaustion and take me down that way. So, I need you and Viper to help me establish-” 

“I’ll do it,” Rick interrupted. 

Sam turned to Rick and blinked. “I... wasn’t expecting a response so soon. You still have time to think about it.” 

“It isn’t right,” he said quickly. “It's a game! It’s supposed to be fun! And... I didn’t think so at first, but I like dueling. I get to meet new people, others like me, and we learn about each other through dueling and talking. But the people who put themselves in charge have established all the rules that actively discriminate against other players just because their avatars aren't metallic? You worked hard to get where you are and it’s like they’re saying your hard work is good enough! It's like... argh!” he sputtered. 

He looked at Sam and smiled. “Sorry. This is sort of my sore spot. To me, there is nothing more ignorant and stupid than discrimination against a person over things they can’t control. I mean, we’re coming up on the two-hundredth anniversary of the Civil War for crying out loud!” 

“Also, I’m not too keen on people who are in charge being jerks just because they can be.” 

Sam walked over – glided over actually, her wings pulsing as she did – and put a hand on his shoulder. “Trust me, I understand.” 

Looking into her eyes, Rick saw an old soul, a level of patience and understanding he had never seen in another person before, even his father. It spoke of age and experience and a wisdom a person could only gain through those things. He needed to ask. 

“You say you’ve been playing Brain Burst for years, right?” 

“Just over four years, yes.” 

“And you’ve spent a good majority of that time in the UNF, yeah?” 

Again, she nodded. 

“Time in the Accelerated World is sped up by a scale of one-thousand which means by spending all that time in the UNF, you’re aging mentally more rapidly than you are physically, right? I mean, that’s how it’s supposed to work, so Sam, if you don’t mind me asking, how old are you? 

A new smile seemed to appear on the avatar’s face, despite the fact that it didn’t have a mouth. “You know it’s rude to ask a woman her age.” 

“Uh - well, I mean,” Rick stammered nervously. He just remembered that technically they were engaged in a duel, and Crystal Seraph probably had the ability to one-shot him. 

A laugh like a chime escaped from her angelic avatar. “I’m joking. Well, let me think. Next to the Gen-Oners – the first American burst linkers who don’t have parents – I'm still fairly young. But I’m of the second generation; my parent was a Gen-Oner, so if I had to estimate, I’m probably between sixty to seventy years old, mentally.” 

Rick was speechless. No wonder why she seemed so mature! And no wonder why she didn’t care about any rumors spreading around school. As far as she was concerned, she was spending all of her time around a bunch of kids! 

“But I’m still thirteen!” she quickly said. “I’m still a teenage girl, so don’t treat me any differently mister!” She stood with her hands on her hips, her wings rustling behind her. 

And Rick let out a laugh. A combination of the silliness of SAm’s voice along with the seemingly serious demeaner of the avatar, and Rick just couldn’t help it. “Sorry,” he said after a minute. “Please try to be patient. I have the mental and emotional maturity of a chimp, so I’ll try not to drag you down too often.” 

Sam shook her head. “Actually, the main reason Lisa told me she chose you was because she told me you were mature beyond your years. I agree, after our conversation. One night, while she was staying over at my house, she told me about that way you helped in sixth grade.” 

She was referring to Chuck, an autistic kid who had started at the school the previous year. He was in the special needs class, but between classes, others would make jokes about him, under the guise of helping. This infuriated Rick, so he took it upon himself to give Chuck a hand, getting to and from classes, and getting to the bus. Chuck's family moved away, halfway through the school year, but Rick hadn’t forgotten the feeling of accomplishment at helping someone who couldn’t help themselves. 

“I know your sense of duty, of commitment is strong,” Sam continued. “Once you choose your path, Lisa says, you don’t let anyone pull you back. She also says you don’t like choosing paths all that often,” she added light-heartedly. 

Rick had to agree. Boring and plain he might be, but when he made up his mind, that was it. He just didn’t make up his mind all that much. Maybe he needed to fix that... 

“After we finish up here, I would like you to contact Lisa and let her know we talked. And please don’t be made or upset about her keeping secrets; I asked her to. I would like the two of you to start teaming up, that way, you can challenge stronger opponents and gain burst points faster. The sooner you get to level 4, the better for all of us.” 

“And what's your plain after getting to level 9?” Rick asked. “Going to go for 10?” 

Sam stopped short at that and bowed her head. “I don’t know if level 10 is within my reach.” 

“Huh? Why not?” 

“Did Lisa not explain it to you?” she asked. “In order for a level9 to achieve level 10, they must defeat five other level 9 avatars. Points don’t matter at level 9.” 

"Okay, well level 9s are tough, sure, but one-on-one, it should be an even fight.” 

She shook her head. “No Rick. You see, when a level 9 is defeated by another level 9, they lose all of their burst points and gave Brain Burst uninstalled from their neurolinker, their memory erased.” 

Rick was stunned into silence again. This game tended to do that a lot! No wonder there were no level 10s! Heck, there weren’t even five level 9s! 

Sam read his mind. “Yes, so you can see why the Governors don’t face each other directly. And you can see why they don’t want another rival in their midst; an X-factor they know nothing about. They don’t know whether or not I’m going to try and hunt them and take all of their points, take Brain Burst away from them. 

“The Governors hardly ever leave their home bases. Only one of the is a Gen-Oner though, and his paranoia is what causes his zeal. Once we start the territory battles on the weekends, you’ll see that I’m only level 9 fighting; the others send their Legions to fight.” 

Lisa had briefly explained territory battles to him the other day, but since neither belongs to a Legion, she hadn’t gone too deeply into it. 

Sam looked up at Rick. “There’s one other reason I wanted you to join us.” 

He was all ears for this. As far as he was concerned, he couldn’t think of a single reason she would want him around, and already she had named several he never would’ve considered. 

“I need a normal teenage experience.” Sam said quietly. “I think and act like an adult so often and I know it’s important to have a fun healthy childhood, so I need you and Lisa, and whoever else we manage to get on our side to remind me every once in a while, to just relax and be a kid. It may be the most important thing I ask you to do. Are you willing to help me with that?” 

Rick could only nod. She was right; to him, that last request might've been more needed than protecting the avatar Crystal Seraph from hit squads. She wasn’t just trusting him with her in-game life, but with her actual mental health, in the real world. Just thinking of that responsibility made him shore up his resolve; he knew he’d agree to do it.


	9. Chapter 9

March 7, 2058; 7:25 PM

Rick sat on the living room couch,  neurolinker disconnected from the global net, still trying to process everything that had happened in the last five days. Needless to say, he didn’t really fell up to dueling tonight.

First, he had downloaded a super-secret VR game that didn’t run for just anyone and had capabilities that any military in the world would kill for, then he’d learned that his avatar for the game had been created by the game scanning his  subconscious and picking out all of his fears, paranoias, and insecurities, and finally, he’d been asked this afternoon to be a protector of sorts; a trailblazer in the history of the game.

He almost wished for his old boring life back, But the game of Brain Burst was very addictive. No, that was the wrong word, not addictive. Not the game itself. It was the community. The people, the burst linkers that made Brain Burst playable. Sure, the duels could be fun, but the fact of the matter was that the few people he’d met in the game had included him. The gallery cheered for him, even when they didn’t know him. They all knew the same thing; this was an exclusive community that didn’t allow just anyone in. They knew it was special.

And it had only taken Rick a day or two to realize that. Brain Burst was special and so were the people who played it. It was for that reason that Rick couldn’t understand the motivations of the Governors and why they would enforce such a meaningless status quo. Was something else happening behind the scenes?

Normally very careful and deliberate of his choices, Rick had just blurted out that he would do whatever was needed to help, not really considering what that might entail. He hadn’t made any real friends in the Accelerated World yet – except maybe Emerald Buckler and she was more a rival really – and doing this kind of thing could possibly alienate him from potential allies.

But what was happening to Sam wasn’t fair or right! And really, that was the bottom line. Sure, life might not be fair, but Brain Bust doled out avatars and abilities based on one’s own mental scars, so while it wasn’t necessarily fair, everyone played with their hearts on their sleeves, so to say.

So, what had happened to Sam for her subconscious mind to create Crystal Seraph?

Before he could make himself crazy trying to figure it out himself, there was a knock at the door. Checking the door’s camera display with his  neurolinker , he unlocked the door with a touch of his digital keyboard. “It’s open! C’mon in!”

The door opened and Lisa walked in. She wore a dark blue windbreaker against the evening drizzle that had started a while ago and brushed her damp hair behind her ear. She shut the door behind her and shuffled closer to the couch. “Hey.”

“ Yo ,” Rick replied, scooting over to offer her a seat. “You got my email I see. We  gotta discuss our plan of attack for these double-team battles!”

Lisa sat quietly, her eyes boring a hole through the floor.

Rick realized that he, f all people, would need to lead this conversation. A dire sign if ever there was one. “So, I talked to Samantha this afternoon. I mean, you obviously know that since you got my email. That’s why you’re over, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh! Uh, she told me to tell you it’s not your fault, the secret keeping and stuff. You were just doing her a favor. I’m not, you know, upset or anything.”

“That doesn’t make it right.” Lisa said, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “I don’t like keeping  things from my friends, and as far as I’m concerned, you’re my best friend.”

Rick gave a lopsided grin. “No, Sam’s your best friend, and that’s okay. I’m just your token guy friend, who you’ve  known the longest.” He had meant it as a joke, but deep inside it was how he’d always felt.

Without warning, Lisa slapped him hard across the face, leaving Rick shocked into silence. “I don’t call people best friend at any old time!” Tears slipped down her cheeks now. “And I don’t cry in front of  anyone !” she sniffled. “I’ve just felt so guilty, keeping all these secrets from you for so long. I’m so, so sorry.”

Rick still wasn’t sure how to handle this. She was right; she didn’t cry like this. It was a testament of how close they were. “Uh, you don’t have to apologize. I mean, you weren’t  doing it to be mean or anything. Really, it’s okay.”

“But you don’t understand!” she sobbed, wiping her eyes. “I was so happy when I started playing Brain Burst, and Sam treated me like I was the most important person in the world. And then, she told me to find someone to be my child, recruit them to help us. I didn’t want to! When I realized you were the best choice, the only choice, I almost hated you! I just couldn’t help it... I told you I wanted you to have Brain Burst so we could play together, but that was a lie! I still feel a pang of hate inside, and it makes me a bad person!” She broke into a new fit of sobs, covering her eyes with her hands.

All Rick could think to do was lightly pat her on the shoulder, but as soon as he made contact, she grabbed him and began crying in earnest on his own shoulder. And now he  really had no idea what to do. He  tentatively wrapped his arms  around her in a hug and patted and rubbed her back, letting her cry it out.

“C-calm down Leese. It’s not all that bad.”

“I-it’s a-a-awful,” she sobbed.

“It... uh, could be worse.”

“How?” she looked at him, eyes puffy, cheeks tear stained.

“Uh... well... I mean, if you think you did something bad or wrong, I know you feel bad about it and I forgive you for it, okay? You don’t really hate me; you were just afraid that I would take your spot in Sam’s plan. But she needs  both of us, remember?  Plus , you  gotta help me to get to level 4 as quick as possible, so we can get to the  Unlimited Neutral field together.”

“You... you still want my help?” she sniffed.

Rick grinned. “You’re my parent, aren't you? What child doesn’t need a parent’s help?”

This set Lisa to  another fit of sobs and wails, grabbing Rick even harder and digging her face into his shoulder again. He knew it couldn’t do anything about this. Tears, like the rain, just had to run their course.

After about half an hour, Lisa emerged from Rick’s restroom, her face looked a little better, eyes not so puffy, and she’d tied her hair back into a ponytail. Rick had changed his tear-stained shirt and was waiting in the same place on his sofa.

“Feel better?”

A half  smile rose from Lisa’s face. “I suppose. I still feel pretty crappy for keeping secrets from you, even after you installed Brain Burst.”

He shrugged it off. “Don’t even worry about it; no harm, no foul. Sam had her reasons and she felt that she needed to play her cards close to the vest until she knew she could trust me. I can’t really blame her; she didn’t know who I was until I was a burst linker.”

Lisa shook her head. “No,  she's been watching you since I pointed you out to her about a month ago. I told her you were our best bet and she’s been researching about you ever since.”

Researching him? Like Googling his name or something? “She must’ve been bored out of her mind, what with my glamorous lifestyle and all.”

“Just because you go out of your way to be plain and boring doesn’t mean you lead a lack-luster life. Some people  envy normal lives, you know.”

She’d made that point before; had something happened  to her in the past that made her want to hide?

Her avatar in Brain  Burst was a ninja, or at least ninja-like, and ninjas were known for stealth... He decided now was probably not the best time to delve in the id of Lisa Pak.

“Anyway,” she continued,  oblivious to Rick’s thoughts. “I came over for two reasons. First, to apologize.”  She bowed formally. “Rick, I’m sorry that I kept secrets and that I lied to you.”

He nodded in acceptance.

“Second, we need to have our first match  together as a team. You up for it?”

Had she asked as soon as she walked in, he would've told her no.  But now that he thought about it, he realized  he'd been hoping she would ask. He nodded. “I’d be delighted.”

Lisa smiled and sat up. “Then let’s go! Connect your  neurolinker to the net and I’ll set us up as a team. Then we can challenge other teams and see about getting your level up.”

Rick grinned as he reconnected to the net. A few minor news stories popped up on his AR display, but he brushed them aside. Lisa was back to normal, which meant he should probably be o n his guard; if he messed up during the fight, she’d probably make him train all day tomorrow. A message scrolled across his screen,  informing him that he’d been put onto a team.

Then he saw who Lisa was about to challenge.

“Whoa! That’s a team of two level 4s!”

“Yeah? And? You want points or what?”

CANARY DASH.

NAVY DIRK.

“You know these guys?”

She nodded. “Yeah, they’re both in the Slip  Circuit , so they don’t stress about winning or losing. They like to have fun, high energy duels. I think we can take ‘ em .”

“Okay,” Rick shrugged “but if we lose, it’s on you.”

“Sure, whatever.” she smiled. “On three, okay? One, two, three!”

“ Burst Link!”

It was a day time nature stage and Rick’s first guess had been right, it was a hard battle. At least for him. Lisa – Viper – seemed to be taking it in stride, flipping all over the place and laughing.

Navy Dirk, who Rick had been told to fight was massive. Large, square shoulders, thick tree trunk legs, a heavy looking, blocky torso, and a face plate with a visor, pale blue circles his eyes. In each ham fist he grasped a long dagger, a dirk, and his color was dark, dark blue.

Canary Dash was his complete opposite. A slim, trim female type avatar with long, thin legs and bulging calves, where what appeared to be rocket boosters sat. She wore what looked like a motorcycle helmet and was a uniform,  blinding yellow.

After some playful banter, the fight  started , the gallery offering its cheers for amazing displays.

It took Rick no time to figure out that Navy Dirk was much quicker than an avatar of his size should be. He thought keeping his distance, getting in attacks when an opening presented itself would be a valid  strategy but no such luck since Dirk could make quick sprints to close in on  opponents .

Indigo Viper seemed to be playing around with Canary Dash, bouncing  around and  jumping up into the trees of the nature stage. Every so often she’d throw out a throwing star but couldn’t seem to get a hit.

Rick figured out rather quickly that Canary Dash didn’t actually run as quickly as she seemed to. Oh, she was fast, but the after images she left behind were only illusions. And unless those rocket boosters on her calves were used during sere only illusions. And unless those rocket boosters on her calves were used during special attacks, they didn't do anything. Lisa probably knew this already  since she never chased after an after image.

With Rick at around ten percent of his HP, he managed to trick Dirk into getting close and hit him with his Mega Arrow. With Dirk staggered by the amount of health he lost and the hole in his gut, Viper swept in and finished him off with an army of clones. It wasn’t long after that she dispatched Canary Dash and the gallery let out a lusty cheer, especially the guys, as Viper took a bow for them.

“You seem pretty popular,” Rick said.

“Nah, they just like boobs.”

Rick saw his burst points and did a double take. It seemed that defeating two level 4s while he was level 1 netted him a lot of points. In fact, three more fights  against similar teams would get him to the needed three-hundred-point level 2 threshold with room to spare!

Lisa  stopped this however.

“ Oh, come on!” he complained as he disconnected from the net. “Just one more?”

She laughed. “Are you in second grade? Look, that fight took a lot out of you and you haven’t even eaten dinner yet.” She rose from  the couch and grabbed her purse.

“Cmon. I’ll take you to Burger Join, my treat. You’ll level tomorrow."

Rick groaned, but she was right. He was hungry and tired. As they left his apartment, his stomach growled at the thought of food.


	10. Chapter 10

“And so, and so Sam says to me, she says ‘Don’t do it!’” Lisa said after swallowing her last bit of burger. “But of course, I totally know better right? I mean, it's not like it’s only my first trip into the UNF! But sure enough, this massive Beast-Class Enemy rises from the ground and zeros in on me, just like Sam said it would! So, we run and run and run for almost three hours until we lose aggro. And so, I turn to her and say ‘Well, at least it wasn’t a flying Legend, right?” She burst into a fit of giggles. 

Rick chuckled. The story was pretty funny, but he guessed he had to be there. 

“The look she gave me after saying that makes it funnier.” Lisa explained. 

The two were sitting at a local burger shop. It was a cozy place with big burgers and small prices which was good for two thirteen-year-olds who didn’t have much cash. The Joint, as most people called it, was a hangout for teens and young adults, as evident by the other customers there. A good majority were in full-dives, in special curtained off booths made for that purpose. 

As much as Rick wanted to log back onto Brain Burst, it felt pretty good to be in the real, hanging out with a friend and eating. As he munched his food, he took stock of that busy Saturday. He’d gotten his first victory against Emerald Buckler, he’d met with Sam in the real who revealed herself as a burst linker, and had Lisa come to his apartment in tears revealing that she’d been keeping secrets from him for months. It had been a busy day to say the least! 

He honestly didn’t feel upset about those secrets Lisa had kept from him, regardless of what she thought. He forgave her for her suspected hatred of him too. Instead, all he felt was acceptance that she had confessed what she felt was guilt. She was a very good friend. 

In the meantime, he really wanted to know about Sam. She told him she’d been playing Brain Burst for years, was of the Second Generation! Her mentality was up in the sixties. His own grandmother was only fifty-seven! How did that kind of rapid growth affect a person? How long had she spent in the unlimited Neutral Field to get to that age? 

“How long have you spent in the UNF?” he asked, breaking the silence. The two sat in a full-dive, soundproof booth so nobody on the outside could hear their conversation. 

Lisa chewed her mustard-covered fries, thinking. “If I had to guess, I’d say maybe close to two years? Somewhere in there? I mean, I spent a good quarter of the day there about a week after reaching level 4, which equates to almost a whole year. Then, going with Sam on different missions to solidify territory and what not. Heck we did the Legion Quest together, just the two of us, and it’s supposed to need at least four people! Boy, did my clones come in handy that time!” she chuckled. “Can’t wait until you hit level 4. The three of us are gonna have a blast! Especially if her upcoming plans pan out.” 

“Legion Quest?” 

“Yeah, it’s this big puzzle in the UNF located on Ryker’s Island in the real where they used to have the prison all those years ago. But in order to gain official Legion status, gate all the benefits and stuff, you have to complete it. Plus, it’s an instance zone, which means that no matter how many people are actually doing the quest, each team of people get their own space and never run into other teams.” 

How did that work? Rick shook his head in an attempt to stop thinking about it before going crazy. 

“Being metallic,” she continued, “you may want to take the Quest yourself one day. Start your own Legion, gain followers. At least you’d be accepted.” 

“No way!” Rick said, “I’m with you two ‘til the end.” Then, he had a thought. “You said the Legion Quest could be done by anyone in the UNF, but only the level 9s have done it? I mean, they’re the only ones with Legions, right?” 

Lisa held up her head. “No, the four biggest, most noteworthy Legions are run by the metallics, but I told you that there are several small groups and gangs that have smaller territories mapped out through the city, remember? We could be sitting in one right now.” She supped her drink. “Doubt it, though.” 

“So where is Sam’s Legion going to be?” 

Lisa shrugged. “Dunno. She said it would be a surprise. She’d tell us after she hits 9, I guess. She gave Rick a look. “Did she tell you her avatar’s age?” 

He nodded and Lisa let out a slow breath. 

“What a mind job!” she whispered in awe. “I gotta know how that affects a person! And most of the level 9s are as old as she is, if not older. Plus, Silver Lupus who is a first-gener. Being that old only in your mind... that’s gotta do something to you. Especially if the rumor is true about Brain Burst’s origins.” 

Rick raised an eyebrow in question. 

“The rumor says that Brain Burst was originally given to one-thousand first graders about five years ago. That means that if Silver Lupus was one of them, he’s actually a year younger than us!” 

Rick thought about it. Maybe that was why Sam was so trustworthy, so easy to get along with. Her emotional maturity and patience made her very easy to talk to, despite her being thirteen like them. That thought was accompanied by the sudden realization that as far as Sam’s brain was concerned, she was old enough to be his grandmother! 

“Gah!” Rick gasped. 

“What?” Lisa asked? 

He shook his head and sipped his soda. “Nothing. Just a random thought.” 

“Was it the ‘Sam’s old enough to be my grandmother’ thought?” 

Eyes wide, he slowly nodded. 

“Everybody has that thought at one point or another.” she chuckled. “Especially when thinking about the level 9ers.” She leaned back and stretched. “Sam’s gonna be a Governor soon. All that hard work finally paying off. And once you reach level 9, she’ll make her proclamation to the entire Accelerated World and establish her territory. 

“The other four Governers... well, three of them at least, will be pissed. Pewter Slip probably won’t care; she’s pretty chill. But the others? We’ll have to protect our borders every weekend, but at the end of the day, that’s just more burst points for us!” 

“So, what’s the end game?” Rick asked. “What are we trying to accomplish? I mean, it’s still a game, right? The way you talk about it, the more it seems like it’s just an alternate version of real like; politics and border disputes and territory. It doesn’t do anything different than in reality... except we all have really cool looking robot bodies.” 

Lisa mulled that over. “Maybe. But think about how much better reality would be if we all had cool looking robot bodies!” 

Rick let out a snicker at that. 

“And the end game,” she continued, “is going where ever Sam wants to go. If she wants to get to level 10, then that’ll be it. If she just enjoys spending time in the Accelerated World, then we’ll be there with her. We’ve sworn ourselves to her, so her word is law. 

“The question, Rick, is what's your endgame?” 

That was a good question. And he really didn’t know. 

March 7, 2053; 8:45 PM 

At almost nine ‘o clock, Rick and Lisa were pushing how long thirteen-year-olds could be out late without getting stares from adults, even if it was a Saturday night. Luckily, Lisa looked closer to sixteen with her height, but even though crime might’ve dropped, it was still New York City and it was getting to be almost time to get home. 

And of course, as soon as they agreed to that, both of them received an email from Sam. Rick was glad he’d convinced Lisa they could reconnect their neurolinkers to the net for as long as it took them to get home. Then, if anyone challenged them, they were still registered a team and they could dispatch them together. But now, an email from Sam, with “!” in the subject heading caught all of his attention. 

I need both of you here, quick as possible. Take a cab to the address below and charge it to the account below that. I’m sorry for the sudden contact so late on a Saturday, but this is an emergency. All will be explained when you get here. Thank you. -Sam 

Luckily, the two of them were still together and read the emails at the same time, standing outside of the Burger Joint. They had been having a conversation about nothing, waiting until the last minute before home, but now their focus was on this. 

But how to go about this? Rick knew his dad wouldn’t be home before two in the morning, so as long as he was at home before then, he was fine. But both of Lisa’s parents were home, and knew where she was, plus the GPS on her neurolinker would make hiding impossible. 

Rick solved this by having Lisa shoot an email to her mother asking to stay the night at Sam’s house under the assumption that if Lisa and Sam where such good friends and har been for a while, then certainly she had met Mr. And Mrs. Pak. Fortunately for Rick, his guess turned out be correct, and Lisa’s mother gave her permission, but informed Lisa that she would be monitored via neurolinker GPS to ensure she was really at the Watt house. 

The two friends made a bee-line to Lisa’s apartment – with Rick waiting silently in the hall – so she could grab some over-night items and bolted, turning down her mother's offer for cab fare, saying it was taken care of. Rick had no intention of staying the night so didn’t need anything, and the two left. He’d never seen Lisa move at such a break-neck speed and couldn’t fathom why she was doing it. Yeah, Sam said it was an emergency, but still... 

Once in the cab, Lisa explained. “It’s the dash next to her name. Normally, you don’t sign an email; I mean why would you? Your name’s on the top of the screen. Well, we devised a secret set of signals using punctuation in the event of emergencies, just in are one of our neurolinkers are bugged or being monitored or something. There are some nasty viruses out there, you know. 

“So anyway, the dash next to her name is a code. It means that people are after her in the Accelerated World and she’s afraid she’s been backed in the Real. She's been backed into a corner, so she’s calling us in, to face it together.” 

Rick blinked, surprised by this revelation. She was afraid she’d been found in the real world? How desperate were these people? And who were they? The oldest of them could only be sixteen or seventeen, based on the neurolinker restriction, and that would be pushing it. He still didn’t understand why Sam would be targeted over a game. Because they were kids? 

He had no doubt that kids could be just as deadly as adults, what with the amounts of illegal fire-arms on the streets. There had been sweeping gun control reforms throughout the country in the late 2020s, but there were still plenty of unregistered guns in New York City anyone could get their hands on. But how could they learn who Crystal Seraph was in real life? Oh, he knew there were methods, but they all seemed rather extreme. 

Of course, it was also rather extreme to go to an unknown address at almost ten o’ clock at night in order to meet with a person he’d known less than a week. He couldn’t explain it, couldn’t make his mind figure out why he had such a sudden devotion to this girl. Because she as nice? She was pretty? She noticed him? 

All of those might’ve been a part of his choice in this matter, but at the end of the day, he realized that he didn’t actually know. And he was okay with that that. He’d square it with himself later, after the emergency. He was okay with that too. 

The cab pulled up to a high-class dive café in Soho, way too expensive for either of them to afford, but the two entered the establishment after paying the cabbie and an email hit them the instant they crossed into the café. It gave a table number, then erased itself. Nervous, the two friends took each other's hands and proceeded deeper in the building. 

It took little time to find Sam sitting in a private booth, complete with a retractable entryway and extra comfortable seats for extended dive sessions. She had a pleasant smile on her face that only looked a little forced. 

“Good evening,” she said, trying to sound cheerful. “I’m so sorry for calling you out so late, but it’s a real emergency.” 

The two climbed into the booth and sealed the door behind them. As they did, Sam pulled an XBS cable out of the central net hub, indicating to the other two to do likewise. 

“If you don’t mind, I’d be more comfortable talking in neurospeak. IS that all right?” 

Rick and Lisa shrugged and plugged in. Personally, Rick wasn’t all that good at neurospeak – his thoughts tended to wander a lot – but he told himself he would make a solid effort tonight. Lisa, as always, seemed perfectly comfortable. 

Again, thank you for coming. 

Rick started. Sam sounded like Crystal Seraph using neurospeak. Was that where their avatar’s voices came from? Sure, it was where their normal avatar voices came from, but wasn’t Brain Burst different? 

I tried to keep you out of this spat, I swear. But after the threat I received, I had to call you in. 

What is it? Lisa asked? What’s the threat? 

Sam looked at them both with a sad smile. Someone has managed to narrowed down a few locations that I frequent. Very rarely do I enter the Accelerated World from home, but unfortunately, the locations I can dive from are limited to the few places I know are safe. 

A-and thiiis p-place? Rick asked, having trouble focusing the words in his head. Why was this so much easier as an avatar? 

Sam smiled again, looking into Rick’s eyes. The least safe. I was hoping I could lure them here and try to scare the, take them out. But my contact in game told me that they aren’t targeting me; they’re targeting you. They know that Indigo Viper is my child and that Copper Tarnish is hers, so they’re going through you to get to me. 

Cowards. Lisa spat, so much as you could spit speaking mentally. 

Perhaps, Sam nodded, but it is effective. 

Where are t-they na-now? Rick asked. 

Closing in as we speak, she replied. I don’t know how they are locating me but it must be an illegal tracking program of some sort. Once I figure it out, I plan on attempting to contact the creator. He – or she – is very good at releasing patches to fix problems like that. 

So, what’s the play? Lisa asked. 

We get out of here and go to my house. My parents are out of town with my sister at a gymnastics meet and my brother is over a friend's house. The security systems at my place are top of the line, so if we do get discovered, you’ll be safe. 

In light of everything Sam had just revealed, neither Rick nor Lisa could find any reason to reject the plan and the three of them wordlessly unplugged their neurolinkers from the central hub and quietly left the booth and the dive café.


	11. Chapter 11

The bad ride to Sam’s house took forty-five minutes. Or make that cab rides, plural. Every ten minutes or so, Sam would stop the cab driver, uber driver, or auto-cab, and have them get out where ever they were. She would then reconnect her transparent neurolinker to the global net, call a new ride, and then they would go to the next seemingly random destination.

Due to self-driving cars, GPS tracking, and  neurolinker safety features built into most cars, traffic jams had become a thing of the past in most cities in America, and the word gridlock wasn’t a thing anymore. Because of this, they moved from location-to-location quickly, traveling long distances in very little time.

All over Manhattan, they drove, even going through the Southern Bronx for a short while. Rick and Lisa both found this behavior a little paranoid, but they had already agreed to follow Sam’s  leadership , so they were silent.

It was nearly eleven-thirty by the time their last taxi dropped them off in front of a large Brownstone townhouse in southern Manhattan near Sara Delano Roosevelt Park. A massive iron gate barred their path until Sam pulled a small remote out of her purse and unlocked it. She  turned to her friends and smiled.

“It’s easier to hack into the system if  it's connected to my  neurolinker .”

“I didn’t say anything,” both said at the same time. They looked at each  other and grinned. “Jinx.”

They took the center walkway to the house as the gate closed behind them.  The path flanked by rows of small flowering shrubs on either side, small garden lights illuminating their steps. At the front door, Sam used a retinal scan to unlock it – and the rest of the house – then invited her guests in.

The inside was much grander than either had imagined. 

A chandelier hung suspended above, lighting a large foyer with ornate printings of African American history on the walls and the Comedy/Tragedy Masks in a large tile motif on the floor. As they entered, the lights brightened as the house sensors picked them up.

“This,” Lisa said quietly, “is a nice house.”

Sam grinned. “one of the benefits of being adopted into a wealthy family.”

Rick said nothing, realizing that one of the paintings on the wall probably cost more than his entire apartment  building . Instead, he knelt down and began untying his shoes, removing them, and placing them next to the door. This was not a house to track dirt into.

Lisa saw this and slipped her own shoes off, as did Sam who chuckled. “Yeah, my folks are a little crazy about this floor. Heck, they pay a guy to come in once a week and buff it to a shine.”

“Any housekeepers or anything?” Lisa asked. She  adjusted her shoulder bag slightly. 

Sam shook her head. “Both of my parents were... well, not poor, but not rich either. So, I guess they wanted their kids to know how to put in a day's work. Understand the meaning of a dollar, you know? But I grew up in the foster care system! I put in  plenty of work!” she laughed.

Rick didn’t doubt it for a second.

“But anyway, let's go to the study. There's a hub we can plug in to. It has some of the best  protections money can buy and even a few it can’t. But once we plug in, we’re  committed , so if you want to eat, use the  restroom , shower, anything like that, do it now. I’m not sure when they’ll come, so we may be sitting around for a while.

“Win, lose, or draw, we’re ending this nonsense tonight.” She said it so firmly, so definitively, that Rick couldn't help but agree, even though he only knew the most basic of what was happening.

All of them agreed to take care of bodily functions then Lisa elected to take a quick shower, so Sam went to her own room to “get more comfortable” as she put it. This left Rick alone in the study hi host had taken him to. And now, he finally had to time think about what was happening. Not with Brain  Burst , but what was happening in real life!

Here he was, in a large, well-furnished home, with no tone, but  two of the school’s most popular, attractive girls, with  no supervision ! Other boys he knew would be drooling over the deviant activities that could be happening. Strangely enough, while his brain briefly considered the illicit  things he knew weren’t going to happen, the thought that most  wracked his brain was a simple one.  Why me?

Lisa had explained why she chose him for Brain Burst, but that didn’t explain Sam’s sudden unwavering trust in him. Not in game, in the real. She brought him into her home, showed trust by leaving him alone – thought no doubt there were plenty of cameras throughout the house – and actually believe he would do nothing wrong. 

And he wouldn’t

The study was a small room with plush chairs, a dark-wood desk, a small sofa, and a thick table. The lighting was dim but  pleasant and a nice aroma circulated around the room. All in all, it was a nice place. 

Sam entered, wearing silk pajamas, pants and a button-down shirt, her hair tied back in a ponytail. She smiled and plopped down on the  sofa . Rick remained in his chair, not trusting himself to get any closer.

“how you doing?” she asked. “Hanging in there?”

“Trying,” he croaked nervously.

“Hey, can I come live with you?” Lisa called from the hallway. She entered the study wearing track shorts and a tank top, her wet hair glistening in the dim light. “I mean, this room is nice, but I’d  kill to have that shower after a soccer game!”

Sam laughed. “Yes, it’s very nice after tennis as well. And I’d love for you to live with me! The rest of my family is either out of town or working so often, I feel like a hermit sometimes.”

Rick knew the feeling. His dad was working most of the time too. Still, her found it difficult to draw a comparison between him and Sam, she didn’t even  know who her biological parents were, and no amount of wealth could compensate for that.

He was also having trouble concentrating since Lisa had entered the room; he had no idea that was what she wore to sleep in! Granted, he only ever saw Lisa as a friend, but still, he was a thirteen-year-old boy!  There were limits to this!

Lisa sat on the other side of the sofa, then both girls motioned that he should join them. In a trance, he stumbled over, desperately trying to  not make a fool of himself.  Without thinking, he sat between them, staring blankly ahead at nothing, his mind exploding at the  indulgent thoughts that swam around. 

“You’d better not be thinking what I think you’re thinking.” Lisa growled in his ear.

“I agree,” Sam whispered into his other ear, though not nearly as aggressively. “We have to concentrate on important things right now.”

How the hell do woman do that? he  wondered .

Sam pointed to the table in front of the sofa. It had a hub on top, glowing with a pale blue light. Several extendable XBS were already in, ready to be connected to a  neurolinker .

“Now, we’re going to plug into this hub and connect to the net through it, instead of wirelessly. That way, if anyone we’re facing is able to track our signal, they  won't follow it back here. Instead, my hub will send them to Newark, New Jersey.”

Rick cringed. Why would anyone be in Newark, New Jersey?

“Hopefully, once I reach level 9, all this  idiocy will finally be  finished ,” SAm continued. “I can’t wait to get back to normal.”

“Why would it stop?” Rick asked. He was really trying to focus on the  conversation and no the girls flanking him. 

“Because,” she explained, “the point of attacking me, of keeping me from getting to level 9, is to preserve the status quo. The Governors have all put on bounties for me in an effort to keep me level 8. Once I’ve gotten to level 9, they’ll have failed. It’s my hope that they’ll drop the bounty and stop trying to beat me in the real.”

“I don’t know,” he muttered. “They put a lot of time and effort into finding you, it seems like. You succeeding might just piss them off more. Make them redouble their efforts. You never know with some people.”

“ So, what’s the plan?” Lisa asked.

“Well, because of my ability, I’ve forced our enemies into a corner and because of that, they’re targeting you now. I personally don’t mind attacks on me, but you attack my child? My grandchild? Now we have a problem.” she sighed.

“ So, we’ll connect to the global net as a team -”

“I thought you could only have teams of two,” Lisa  interrupted .

Sam grinned. “A few months ago, a new feature was added for Legion Masters; probably in an effort to get Legion Masters engaged in the game. It allows them to team up in Battle Royal matches with as many followers as they want. So far, you two are the only ones I trust, but hopefully we’ll change that soon.

“Anyway, we’ll connect to the net and use my ability to remain hidden from casual duels. Once I see the name of the avatar that's been hunting me, I’ll deactivate the ability and challenge him to a  Battle Royal match. He’ll have two or three with him so be prepared.” 

“Why wouldn’t he have more people with him?” Rick asked. “I mean, you’re level 8.”

“So is he,” she  responded. The others with him will be level 4 or 5 at most. He  won't want them too strong since he can’t trust they  won't turn on him.”

Rick was about to ask  another question when Lisa spoke up. “You mean its  him ? The guy all those rumors were talking about a few weeks ago?”

Sam nodded and Rick raised an eyebrow. “Explain, please. New guy here.”

“There was a rumor a few weeks ago,” Lisa said, “about an avatar using some sort of illegal tech to locate burst linkers in the real, then force them to help him or threaten to either force them to zero burst points or to physically hurt them in real life. We may be burst linkers, but some of us are small children; it’s a pretty easy choice. Well, I thought it was bogus because shortly after they started, the rumors stopped.” She shrugged. “Guess I was wrong.”

“ So, anyone we fight tonight, it might be against their will?” Rick asked, horrified.

“It’s possible,” Sam said quietly. “Just be ready for it.”

“Woo is this jerk? I’m  gonna rip his face off!” Rick realized he was genuinely angry.  Sure , it was just a game at the end of the day, but he was starting to understand that to some people, Brain Burst wasn’t  onl y a game. It was a  community .

He felt it the first time he heard the gallery cheering for him, when Emerald Buckler offered him advice after his first loss, and when she congratulated him after his first victory. And he realized that the Accelerate World was a place where anyone, even a boring person like him, should be able to feel  welcome and unafraid.

“Yeah,” Lisa called. “What’s his name?”

“Midnight Talon,” Sam replied  coldly . “He’s mine.” Her tone brooked no argument.

Going into this, Rick had a massive number of doubts. Clearly, he was the  weak link here. Even Lisa as level 4. They would have to protect him, and in doing so, limit their own offensive capabilities.

“You guys should go without me.” he suddenly blurted out. He’d meant to say that in his head. 

“And why is that?” Sam asked calmly.

Well, since he’d let that cat out of the bag... “I’m only level 1.” he sighed. “I can’t help you defeat any level 4s or 5sa. I only just started this five days ago! I’m not scared or  anything , but I just don't see how effective I can be.”

Sam leaned over and gave Rick a small peck on the cheek. It was  nothing really, but it drew a gasp from both Rick and Lisa. Rick began to blush slightly.

“What?” she asked innocently. Then she smiled warmly. “Rick, you can be  very helpful, not just as Copper Tarnish, but as Rick Billings too.” She leaned forward slightly, looking into his odd-colored eyes. “My first special ability, way back at level 1, was called ‘Heart Gaze.’ It allowed me to know the true  feelings of the avatar I was dueling.

“When I brought you into the dueling stage. I looked you up and down. And Rick? You have a heart of gold.” She sat back again.

Lisa barked out a laugh. “That was a little dramatic, don’t you think sis?”

Same eyed her and grinned. “You don’t want to know the color of your heart, my child.”

“I’m only your child in the  Accelerated World. Out here, we’re sisters.”

“You’re my child, no matter where we are,” Sam corrected, “But I wouldn’t mind another sister, Steph can me a little... overbearing sometimes.” She mused for a second. “Well, I have a black sister and now I have an Asian sister, so now I need a Latina sister, a middle-eastern sister, and maybe an Indian sister and I’ll have a whole world set! OH! And a Native American sister. And maybe one from Hawaii...”

The three laughed. That was a lot of sisters! But as the laughter died down, Rick gave voice to something bothering him.

“We shouldn’t challenge Midnight Talon to a Battle Royal. We should make him challenge us. I mean, we’re going to be in a group of three, right? So, he has no choice in the matter. It doesn’t  sit right with me, being the aggressor when we’re supposed to be the good guys.”

Both girls though this over before nodding. Neither said a word.

Sam was the first to reach for a retractable XB5 cable, prompting Lisa and Rick to do the same. They inserted the plugs and watched the red warning display itself, then vanish. Sam hit a few buttons in the air,  visible only to her, and set them up as a team.

And that was that. They were connected to the global net now, and all they could do was wait for the enemy, Midnight Talon, to find and challenge them.

They sat on the small sofa, relaxed but nervous. Rick, in particular, felt he had reason to feel this way. His breathing seemed ragged to him and his heart beat in his chest loudly  thump-thump ,  thump-thump .  What exactly did Sam mean  when she told him he had a heart of gold? Was she trying to inspire him? It seemed completely out of the blue.

He jumped when he felt contact in his right hand. Looking down, he saw that Lisa had clasped it into hers. Then, on his left, Sam followed suit. He felt his breath steady and his heartbeat relaxed again.  It’ll be fine, he thought.  They’re with me.

It was this with thought in his mind that two minutes and twenty-four seconds later, their world disappeared and they entered the Accelerated World with a message Rick had never seen before: A BATTLE ROYAL IS BEGINNING!!


	12. Chapter 12

Rick’s avatar was suddenly forced outside, in the deep purples and reds of sunset. Behind him, Sam’ house had transformed into a large rocky outcropping; not quite a hill or mountain. The gate in front of the walk had turned into a natural stone arch, with no bars in the way. The rest of the environment was simply miles of sand and the occasional shrub or cactus.

The American West.

“Perfect,” Sam – Crystal Seraph – said, stepping next to Rick. “A desert stage will hide where we’ve come from since all of the buildings turn to stone.” He had forgotten how beautiful Sam’s avatar was, and the  setting sun caused her silver hair to look afire.

Lisa stepped up to Rick’s other side. Indigo Viper stood with a casual ease, a hand on her hip thrust to the side. Her other hand ran through her hair as she looked around the stage. “We should get going. I don’t know who Midnight  Talon brought with him, but they're moving quick. They can’t know we came from here.”

The other two nodded and together the three of them began to run in the direction the blue arrow pointed. Even though it was impossible, Rick was positive he could smell the clean, untainted air. There were no signs of pollution in this air, as if man had never stepped foot here before. He saw a small mountain range in the distance and assumed that they were other houses all close together, or condos, or apartment buildings or businesses. Rick shook his head. They could be anything!

He realized he was trying to distract himself from his nerves.

Then, he noticed that while he and Viper were running, legs pumping like pistons, Crystal Seraph was floating a few inches off the ground. He looked at her wings and saw them vibrating slightly, a pale glow enveloping them. Her feet weren’t even visible!  That was  certainly a good ability to have; especially if your avatar was wearing high-heels naturally!

There was no sun or moon in this desert stage, but a dim light gave them enough illumination to see everything. Looking up, Rick saw thousands of stars, their glow adding to their light. Every time a cactus  appeared nearby, Crystal Seraph would manifest a sword out of thin air and destroy it.

Though you couldn’t see anybody’s HP or Special Attack  gauge in a Battle Royal, Rick had to assume that she was building the latter.

They ran and ran, following that blue arrow until, abruptly, it vanished. This caused Rick’s nerves to jump  another notch, and got into a  battle-ready posture.

“Be strong,” Viper whispered, doing the same thing. “We believe in you.”

He swallowed and nodded, looking all over, searching for their foes. The clock had already  run itself down to 1420 seconds; they’d been running for almost 400 seconds! Luckily, avatars didn’t breathe and couldn’t be winded.

They stood at the base of a small dune, maybe seven or eight feet tall, but very wide; almost a camp of solid sand. “They’re cresting the dune.” Seraph muttered. Her sword had vanished again.

And then, there they were. A thin, almost gaunt figure stepped up and bowed from the waist at the three of them. He wore a helmet that covered his face, like most M-type avatars, and his entire body was a blue so dark it was almost black. At the end of his right arm, a gauntlet three sizes too big for the arm it was attached to  sat, waiting, three long, claw-like spikes flexing and bending.

“I bring tidings from my Governor, Silver Lupus, who wishes you a good evening. To you and your vassals, Crystal Seraph”. He looked at Lisa and Rick. “The quick and talented Indigo Viper. I had the honor of watching you defeat Slate Plate a few weeks ago; and excellent match. And, of course, our community’s newest member, Copper Tarnish. A new metallic and he’s aiding you? Awfully convenient, no? Well, I’ve not seen you fight yet Copper Tarnish, but I hear you have  loads of potential.” His voice dipped with sarcasm.

“Midnight Talon,” Seraph called up, “you have stalked me in the real, tried to threaten and intimidate me and mine. Now we stand before you! What do you want? What have I done to offend the Lupus Guard?”

He shrugged. “I’ve been sent by my Governor to prevent you from becoming level 9. It’s that simple. I need you to lose a few matches, go to nearly total point loss, as a sign of good faith. Then, you may go free. I’m almost certain my own Governor would make you a Senator; you’re battle prowess is well known after all.”

Crystal Seraph shook her head. “I cannot do that. I made a vow to my parent to carry out his work when he was gone. As he is no longer with us, I must carry out his dream.”

Midnight Talon laughed. “A single, unified Accelerated World? It will never happen.” He motioned behind himself and he was joined by tree other avatars. “Lady Seraph; while you and I battle, your... Senators will fight my soldiers.” He  turned to them.” Introduce yourselves and be polite.”

A deep blue avatar stepped up. It was easily six and a half feet tall and looked like one massive slab of muscle, his arms, legs, chest, and back bulging and rippling. “I’m  Ocean Crush ,” he said in a deep voice. “Level 4.”

He was joined by the oddest-looking avatar Rick has seen to date. It was the size of a child, a dark shade of pink, but the body  looked almost like a costume. The back ankles flared out from behind like riding chaps for horses or motorcycles, and the torso had multiple layers jutting around, making it look like the avatar wore a sleeveless cowboy vest. A large cowboy hat sat atop its head and a short pony-tail stuck out the back of its head.

“Howdy ya’ll,” the voice of a perky little girl said, touching the brims of her hat politely. “Name’s Raspberry Revolver. I’m level 4 too, and sure as shootin sorry we  gotta meet like this.”

Rick blinked. That girl sounded seven or eight! Kids that young could be level 4?

The third avatar stepped forward, a sleek green-blue with wicked poking spikes jutting from the tips of his wrists, dozens of holes penetrating his torso. His face was covered with the mask that was standard for M-types, but directly under where his nose would’ve been was two small spikes, almost like a mustache. From his chin was another small spike, like a goatee. The effect was similar to a Guy Fawkes mask.

“Teal spike, level 5. Pleasure.” His voice seemed very cultured for an evil soldier, Rick thought.

“I don’t know why you’re here,” Seraph called to the three, “But you don’t have to do this. We can find a way to coexist. That's what I’m trying to accomplish.”

The three avatars said nothing and Midnight Talon laughed. “Well said, but my troops will not be swayed by your harmonious words. They are well paid after all.”

Well paid?  Mercenaries then?

Crystal Seraph sighed deeply, closing her eyes. “I’m sorry, but I cannot allow you to harm either of my wards. You made this personal by targeting them Talon. I cannot show you mercy; I must show what happens when my family is threatened.” She lifted her right hand, palm in front, towards them. “Prison of Quartz.”

Nothing appeared to happen. Midnight Talon stretched his arm  forward and was blocked by a wall as transparent as the purest glass. He knocked at it and an audible noise echoed across the empty desert night. All four of them were trapped in an invisible cube and nothing could break it. Raspberry even drew one of her pistols and fired, reflecting the shot into Teal Spike’s shoulder.

“They’ll break out eventually, but it will take most of the rest of our time,” Crystal Seraph said calmly.

“And what do you hope to accomplish with this, Lady Seraph?” Midnight Talon asked, but Rick knew exactly what she was doing. She was buying time. Had it just been her and Talon, he knew enough about Sam to know she’d never turn away from a challenge, and she’d fight him here and now.

But it wasn’t just her and Talon. He and Lisa were now involved and Seraph knew they weren’t strong enough to defend themselves against this kind of hate. Not yet. And Talon has said it himself; his job was to prevent her from getting to level 9. Which meant that once she leveled, the attack would stop.

Hopefully .

She was close to leveling, but didn’t want to risk her friends. Talon probably recognized this as well. He also noticed the clock, ticking down the seconds. What had stared at 1800 seconds was almost down to 900. The trip and introduction had taken some time. 

“Fine.” Talon sighed. “I don’t have time for this, so we’ll attack then.” He lifted his talon in front of him and after a few seconds, it began to glow in front of him, he pushed his claws through, though it clearly took effort, and the wall melted into nothing as he ripped it up from down and stepped through the tear like a curtain.

Both Seraph and Viper gasped aloud at that and Seraph stepped up  angrily . “You  dare use an Incarnate Attack unprovoked? So easily and without fear?”

Talon shrugged as his allies exited the prison. “Oh, it wasn’t easy. My Governor gave me permission to use only one Incarnate Attack when facing you; and then, only in an emergency. The paper work he makes me fill out is reason enough not to ever use the damn thing.”

Seraph gritted her teeth, so much as she didn’t have a mouth. Rick didn’t understand why she was so upset.  So he was able to beat her technique;  so what? Wasn’t that the point of a fighting game? To try and win against the other’s attacks? 

She turned and looked at Rick and Viper. “Can I trust you to put up a good fight against three opponents, all of which are a higher level than you?”

“Leave it to us,” Viper replied resolutely.

Seraph looked into Rick’s eyes and sighed. “I am sorry to thrust you into this so early. Please; forgive me.”

Not knowing what to say, Rick ducked his head. “No biggie.”

She smiled looking from one to the other. “Thank you both.” With that, she launched herself – that was the only way Rick could describe it – up the dune, directly at  Midnight Talon, sword suddenly back in her hand. They locked word to talon, and tested  each other's strength.

“Impressive,” he said, “but I think you’re actually weaker than you were before.”

“Then let’s fix that, shall we?” Crystal Seraph’s gown shattered into a thousand shards of glass and began to spin in place, pink light flashing all over until it  reattached itself to her body, now in the shape of a  glorious breast plate. Her legs were coved in pink grieves and her feet were booted. “Better?” she asked, pushing Midnight Talon back several feet.

Rick came back to his sense when he felt Viper shake his shoulder. “We don’t have a lot of time, so we don’t have to win; just survive. Fight to your strengths, get a hit in when you can, and be smart. No unnecessary risks. You may have a heart of gold, but sometimes you have a brain of mush.”

“Only because I fixate on trivial things.” he joked. “What about you? You  gonna try to seduce them with that impossible body of yours?”

She laughed. “Only as a last resort. Here they come.”

The three enemies walked carefully down the slope towards them. Behind them, the clash between the leaders could be seen and heard neither seeming to have advantage over the other.

“Here’s the plan.” Viper said. “We try to separate them and tire them out one at a time. When my special attack gauge is full, I can use my clones to confuse them and we can strike. Until then, play it safe.”

Rick nodded. And he had absolutely no idea if he was going to be able to do it! He was only level 1 for crying out loud! Playing this game for less than a week! He would do what he could, but her had no illusions about survival. As long as he bought Sam some time though...

“Equip Enhanced Armament: Iga Blade!” Viper called. A dim light from the sky shone down on her for a moment and a small ninja knife appeared in her hand. The blade itself was black and a thin smoke was emanating from it. “Watch out for the red one,” she warned.” She’ll try to pin us down with gun fire but she’ll have low defense. Get in close, if you can. I got dips on the mask head.”

Rick still wasn’t sure how to proceed here...

“Let's go!” Viper cried, running forward suddenly, making a bee-line towards the avatar who named himself Ocean Crush. About five feet away, she leapt into the air and threw several throwing-stars, forcing the three opponents to duck. He took the opening, running faster that he thought he could, straight towards the pink cowgirl. Only he didn’t quite make it. As he ran past the kneeling Teal Spike, a long thing spike poked out of one of his many holes and impaled his knee cap. Teal Spike then rose and lifted Rick over his head, while he was  temporarily stopped, and threw him down the slope.

Rick landed on his feet,  albeit awkwardly with a hole in his knee.

“Not so fast; Copper Tarnish. Your fight is with me.”

“Crap.”

“I’ve been tasked with holding your attention, at least, and taking you out at most. I do  apologize ; beating up on little level 1s isn’t normally my  style , but,” he shrugged, “a job’s a job.”

“Mercenary?” Rick asked

“Yes,” Teal  Spike replied, “but I prefer to think of myself as a  gentleman of fortune.”

Guess that explains the odd speech pattern. Rick thought

“And I am sorry”, the teal avatar  continued . “I understand -”

Boy, he loves to hear himself talk. Forget this; I’m not just  gonna listen to a villain with a cheesy ‘ stach monologue! Rick quickly lifted his hand. “Tarnished Arrow!”

Teal Spike didn’t even flinch as the arrow  plinked off of his shoulder and a single HP was  depleted . The avatar sighed. “It’s like that, is it? I suppose that’s your best. Much like Senator Talon, I’ve not had the opportunity to see you fight, but I’ve heard the rumors of your special attack, so if we’re going to clash, know that I won’t toy with you. After all, I must join my comrades for the real fight.”

Rick looked over Teal Spike's shoulder to see Viper fighting the bulky Ocean Crush’s close-range punches and grapples while also avoiding Raspberry Revolver's gun shots. She even managed to land a hit with her dagger, each leaving a smoking cut on the blue body.  He'd never seen  Viper move so fast, with such precession. It was kind of amazing.

Teal Spike followed Rick’s eyes, looking over his own shoulder. “Yes, she’s very talented. I’m rather curious what sort of self-esteem issues a girl has to have for an avatar to get a body like that!” He looked back at Rick. “Sorry. Probably not best to say that to her child, eh? And as your parent, I’m sure she’s trained you well, but in the end, I’m level 5 and you’re level 1.”

He’s  _ still _ talking!

“ So, I’m afraid I must end you.”

This odd line caused Rick to let out a chuckle until it blossomed into a full-on belly  laugh . “Aren't you being a little over dramatic? ‘I will end you?’ Stop talking and fight already! And  whatever you do, don’t look behind you.”

“Huh?” Teal spike perked at that.

“Spiker, look out!” the shrill voice of Raspberry Revolver called out. He turned, but it was too late and Viper’s dagger caught him directly in the chest. But before he could counter-attack, the blade was withdrawn and  Viper was gone, flipping past Ocean Crush’s large, awkward body and ham-fisted hands. Black smoke leaked from Teal Spike's stab wound.

Rick didn’t wait an instant. He ran up to the level 5, who seemed stunned since he wasn’t moving, grabbed around him from behind, joining his hands together at his chest, and proceeded to German Supplex him. Obviously, in real life, Rick would never have attempted something like that, not having either the strength or flexibility. But in the Accelerated World, he could fall 60 feet and not feel anything!

The teal avatar landed on the back of his neck and head hard. Rick realized his opponent must’ve been paralyzed or something because even now, not a single spike shot out of his body. He’d have to ask Viper about that later. 

Rick quickly let go and got up, not wanting to get spiked once his opponent was able to again. Since he was fighting him, Rick could see the HP and Special Attack bars of his opponent. Together, he and Viper had lowered Teal Spike’s HP by around seven percent. As he was level 5 and had green in his color, Rick assumed this was good.

Then a shot rang out and Rick couldn’t move.

“You sure are a tricky one, partner,” Raspberry Revolver drawled. “I figured ‘ ol Teal’d take  ya out right quick, but it seems  ya got more piss ‘n vinegar in  ya than I thought.”

Rick was curious if that accent was legit or not. Never having been out west, he didn’t really know. He also didn’t know why he was thinking such a stupid thought while he was immobile and at anyone’s mercy.

But from his position, he could see Crystal Seraph’s - Sam – fight. And he was astounded.

Crystal Seraph and Midnight Talon dueled as if nobody else in the universe existed outside of them. It was almost romantic, the way they focused on only each other so deeply, looking deep into the other’s soul, sword versus talon.

Rick watched as giant geodes ripped out of the ground at Midnight Talon’s feet, causing him to stumble. Seraph’s hand shot out and grabbed his left, un-gauntleted wrist, and crystals started to crawl up his arm, towards his chest. Talon quickly swatted the hand away and the crystals that had begun to grow crumbled into dust. They resumed trading blows without missing a beat, the sound ringing out across the desert stage.

Rick’s attention returned to his own situation, especially since  Raspberry Revolver was helping Teal Spike back to his feet. He shook his head slowly as he rose. Rick’s attack apparently having rung his bell pretty good.

But Rick still  couldn't move, despite how he tried.

“Don’t bother,” Revolver said, watching him. “It’ll last five minutes, until you suffer damage, or until I let you go; whichever comes first.” She shrugged as Teal Spike stepped up to his paralyzed form. “So long.”

“Is that your real accent?” Rick blurted out. “Sorry, but it’s driving me crazy and seeing as how I’m about to be  killed and all...”

The girl was silent for a second, then burst into peals of laughter. “Ah? I like you. After all this is done, I’d like to have a talk with ya.”

Teal Spike was at him now, wrapping his arms around Rick, much like Rick had done to him just a second ago. Was it really so recently? It felt like a small eternity.

“I could finish you with my wrist blades,” he growled into Rick’s ear, “But I believe in Karma. Tit-for-tat, I always say.”

Was he about to German  Supplex him?

Then, nothing but blinding pain wracked his entire body. Rick almost passed out; it was so intense. He looked and saw multiple thin spikes poking through his torso, several coming out of Spike’s arms, into his own chest and shoulders. His HP bar dropped and dropped until he had just under ten percent left. The level 6er had almost one-shotted him!

On the plus side, his  Special Attack gauge was totally full, and he could move again. On the down side, his arms were quite literally pinned at his sides.

“Geez, that’s unsettling,” Raspberry  Revolver said  squeamishly . “ Ain't never seen  ya use it like that before.”

“Sorry.” he let go and Rick collapsed onto the ground, hardly able to think straight after feeling his entire body pierced by long spikes. “A level 1 newbie just slammed the back of my head onto the ground. I suppose I kind of overreacted?” He shrugged.

“Tarn!” Viper called out from thirty feet away. Apparently, her fight was keeping her busy. Well good. While these two focused on him, she could beat Ocean Crush. If only he could get a clean shot with his Mega Arrow, then they’d  _ really _ have something to remember him by!

“Go help Crush.” Teal Spike ordered the cowgirl. “I’ll join you in a minute.”

“Good,  ‘cause lookit the clock,” she warned. “We’re  run’in on fumes.”

“Wait!” Rick called out from the ground. “I ain’t done with you either, cow girl!” He had to keep up the distraction as long as he could.

Teal lifted him off the ground by his shoulder, his body riddled with holes, a few bright orange sparks flicking out every now and then. Looking into his face, Teal sighed. “As I said before, your fight is with me. And again, I’m sorry it had to end like this.”

Rick lifted his arms and put his hand, wrists together, on Teal Spike’s chest.

“Stop that; it’s annoying,” the teal avatar said. “Plus, you’re embarrassing yourself and your parent. You’re a burst linker, aren't you? Take pride in the fight itself, even if you lose.”

Under his faceplate, Rick smiled. Take your own advice, huh?  Mega Arrow!”

The small arrow punched through Teal Spike’s chest and out of his back, causing him to stagger back, letting go of Rick and grasping the hole in his body. His HP bar dropped about forty percent. 

The arrow continued and nearly struck Raspberry Revolver, who had stopped to watch and was almost directly behind her ally. She managed to just side step out of the way and the arrow only grazed her arm. Her HP bar dropped though,  only by about ten  percent .

“What in tarnation!” she cried out. “What the blazes was that!?”

Rick was barely able to stand, he was so tired. He felt exhausted and was in pain. Plus, there was more than enough time for the two avatars to finish him. He lifted his finger to the stunned Teal Spike and let out a barking laugh. “Take that!”

A low growl came from Spike’s throat. “No. More. Games.”

Hadn’t he told Rick at the beginning of the fight he wasn’t going to toy with him? Now, he knew Teal Spike was going to use whatever special attack he had, and it wasn't going to feel  too good. And Raspberry Revolver wasn’t looking to happy either, both guns out of their  holsters now.

Rick had no idea his Mega Arrow could hit more than one person! Granted, he’d never fought more than one person at a time before. 

Teal Spike’s wrist blades suddenly became  covered in frost and ice.” Icicles of Death.”

He braced himself for pain. He knew it wouldn’t be able to dodge with his body like this.

HE wished he was gold instead of copper. The way Lisa had explained the metal chart, gold was resistant to almost every kind of special attack. He might even be able to survive an icicle through his chest. It was also bright and shiny and reflective, something Rick had never been before.

Except that wasn’t exactly true anymore, was it? Lisa noticed him, sure, but now he had Samantha, not just seeing him but seeing  _ into _ him,  believing in him. Telling him he had a heart of gold. Well, he’d done what he could and then some. He stood in his fighting stance as the two enemy avatars surrounded him.

“Crystal Chime!” a clear voice rang out. Blinking, Rick found himself engulfed in a pale, pink aura and suddenly his Special attack gauge was completely full again. He watched his opponents stop short, both having witnessed what just happened, neither wanting to feel another  one of those arrows of his.

What neither of them could possibly know was that his Mega Arrow dealt damage to its target equal to the amount of damage he had taken since the Last Mega Arrow he’d shot. Which meant that this arrow – if he chose to fire it – would do zero damage. It was a hell of a bluff. 

But was it a bluff? Why would Crystal Seraph restore his Special Attack gauge, knowing that his arrow would be useless. Unless... He replayed what Sam had said before  entering the  Accelerated World.

Way back at level 1, I had an ability called Heart Gaze  that showed me what an avatar was really feeling. And you Rick? You have a  heart of gold.

What if she wasn’t being dramatic? What if she was being literal?

Teal Spike and Raspberry  Revolver were approaching again, from opposite sides, wary of that mysteriously strong arrow. 

He had nothing to lose, so why not give it a shot? “Equip Enhanced Armament: Heart of Gold.”


	13. Chapter 13

Golden light blasted out of the dark twilight sky and surrounded Rick – Copper Tarnish – in a brilliant aura. After a second, the light vanished but the glowing aura remained. He looked at his body and saw that all the holes created by Teal Spike were gone and that his HP bar had been restored to twenty-five percent.

He also noticed that both Teal Spike and Raspberry Revolver were backing away.

“What happened?” Revolver asked, sounding confused and scared. “His name, I  ain’t never...”

“A trick,” Spike whispered, sounding  hopeful .

His name? Rick looked and was equally shocked. Instead of Copper Tarnish, the name displayed near his HP bar said Gold Virtue. He looked at his hands and the rest of his body, shocked that it wasn’t the aura casting a gold light on the stage; it was  _ him.  _ Instead of the usual coppery red-brown with streaks of green, he was the definition of gold.

“I bet I look like an Academy Award,” he muttered to himself.

“What was that?”  Revolver asked Spike. “I  ain’t never seen no one change color before.”

“It has to be a trick. HE called out an Enhanced Armament. It must be an illusion.” Teal Spike stepped forward and thrust his ice-covered wrist blade at Rick. At the same time, Revolver held her guns  forward .

“ Flamin Twister!” A gout of flame burst out and spun towards him.

Strangely enough, Rick didn’t feel pained. He calmly side-stepped the ice blade, taking no damage even as it scrapped against his arm. When he was suddenly engulfed by flames, he noticed the very slow decrease of his HP.  Somehow, he instinctively knew the strengths and  weaknesses of a gold avatar.

He lifted his hand towards Spike, knowing that his normal arrow would be enhanced, somehow. “Golden Arrow,” A beam of light shot out of his palm, hitting  Spike squarely on the forehead,  knocking him down. It didn’t deal much damage, but it was more than 1 HP! It also didn’t subtract from  _ his _ health. “I could get used to this.”

“Well, special attacks may not affect  ya ,” Revolver drawled, “ But I bet regular bullets still fill  ya with holes!” She lifted her twin pistols and slid her fingers on the triggers.

“Golden Radiance!” Rick shouted and an extra bright burst of light exploded off of his body. Raspberry Revolver had no choice but to cover her eyes from the dazzling display. Rick was enjoying the feeling of power and control he seemed to gain as Gold Virtue, even though he wasn’t sure why he knew which attacks he had without looking at his move list. Stil, his Special Attack bar was dropping quickly so he had to do what he could with the time he had left.

He ran to the still blinded Revolver and grabbed her, lifting her over his head.

“Whoa! Hold on there, Bronco!” she cried, “This  ain’t no way to treat a lady!”

“I agree!” Rick said, “But you, miss, are no lady!” He threw her directly on top of Teal Spike, who was just starting to rise. He must’ve been confused as well, because as soon as his ally touched him, he shot spikes out, piercing her  small body in multiple locations.

“Spike! It’s me!” she yelled as her HP dropped  another ten percent.

Rick ignored the two downed opponents and ran directly to Indigo Viper, who was looking a little worse for wear. While Ocean Crush had several cuts and stab wounds – some still smoking – Viper's left arm was hanging limply at her side.

“You okay Viper?”

“What the crap Tarn? One minute you’re at death’s door, the next you’re glowing like the fourth of July and  you’re solid gold. What is that?”

“Beats me. Don’t know, don’t care. Tell me what to do to help before  it goes away.”

“I need a distraction and a clean shot at his back,” she replied  grimly .

“You got it.” He ran the five feet between himself and the dark blue avatar, waving his arms in the air. “Hey! Look at me! I sear, this isn’t a distraction!” His aura-covered arms and hands left gold trails in the dim light of the desert stage.

“ Outta the way, 3PO.” Ocean Crush said, sounding more annoyed than anything. He reared back aa punch, ready to hit the totally defenseless Gold Virtue.

“I bet I do look like C-3PO.” Rick replied, wondering where Lisa had  disappeared to.

“Secret Technique: Spinal Severance!”

Ocean Crush let out an “ urk ” and collapsed forward, Indigo Viper standing behind him, her dagger protruding from the center of his back. Black smoke poured from the wound, surrounding the fallen avatar.

“Thanks,” Viper said calmly.” It’s my level 3 special attack, but it only auto-kills if they’re under  thirty -five percent of their starting HP and I have a weapon equipped. It’s a great attack, but it’s a real pain to set up. You need a distraction.”

“Lucky for us, I’m a good decoy.” He pointed to her dagger. “Is that normal?” The blade of the dagger was glowing  an gry orange now.

“Yeah, it absorbs the power of anyone I kill with it. But you  gotta use a special technique for it to work properly. Most Enhanced  Armaments make themselves to fit their users, so...” She leaned forward and pried her dagger out of Ocean Crush’s back. An instant later, he exploded in to a million pixels and vanished into the night.

The two turned their attention to the other two avatars, just getting up from their prone positions. Rick wasn’t sure how much longer this gold body of his was going to last but he wanted to get the most out of it he could! He and Viper set themselves up foe a charge, but stopped short.

Teal Spike held his hands up and Raspberry Revolver  holstered her pistols. It was clearly a peace offering of sorts, even though the two of them probably could’ve taken them out.

“We’re finished,” Spike said calmly. “I’ve never heard of an ability that changed an avatar’s color and abilities before. With that ability I have no doubt you will be a powerful burst linker one day, perhaps even a Governor yourself, and when that occurs, I do not wish to have you or your Legion hunting me.”

He  _ still _ talks too much, Rick thought.

“Plus, we  ain’t getting paid enough for this.” Revolver added. “This was more a favor for Talon than anything, but Crush getting offed wasn’t part ‘o the deal.” She motioned to where Crystal Seraph and Midnight talon continued their fight. “Looks like that’ll be over soon too.”

The four turned and watched as Crystal Seraph locked her sword with Talon’s gauntlet again, pushing him back with pure strength. Her six wings buzzed on her back as she hovered just above the ground, toes pointed down. She looked like an avenging angel as she held her crystal longsword at her side.

“It’s over Talon. My people have won and yours have lost the will to fight.”

Talon chuckled. “It’s not over yet my dear. Even with a victory here, you’ve only beaten a level 4. You won’t get enough points to do anything, split three ways. I will simply return in twenty-four hours with greater numbers, higher levels, and crush you.”

“You’re wrong,” she said gently. “I have the  points; I  merely lack a buffer. Which I will have plenty of if I defeat you.”

“In less than two minutes?” he laughed. “You’re good for a  colorless freak but you can’t come close to defeating me that quickly.”

She sighed. “Again, you’re wrong. And about two things  thi s time. First of all, I can destroy you right now, in one blow.”

“Oh?”

“ Golden Virtue!” she called out, her eyes never leaving her opponent.

Rick instinctively knew what to do. Holding his hands out in front of him, he aimed them at Crystal Seraph. “ Golden Radiance!”

Instead of the full burst that surrounded him the first time, a concentrated beam of light shot out, hitting the angelic avatar square in the back. 

Immediately, the crystal body refracted the light and rainbows blasted out, covering Talon, who was only about five feet away. He held his clawed gauntlet in front of his face, shielding his eyes from the impressive display.

“Second,” she continued, holding her sword above her head. At some point, it had become a great sword. “I’m not colorless. I am  every color  at once!” She slashed her word straight down the entire spectrum radiating out of it.

“Prism Slash!”

A rainbow line slashed through Midnight Talon, from head to groin in a straight line, even severing the gauntlet he was using to cover his eyes. After a second, he split in half and fell to the ground in two pieces. Another second and the two pieces exploded into pieces before disappearing. 

She lowered her sword and turned to face the four avatars that had witnessed this. Rick wasn’t shining his light anymore and after a few more seconds, his glow faded and he returned to his normal coppery hue. Crystal Seraph still had an entire spectrum glowing inside of her. He couldn’t  help but be awed by her presence, like a princess from a fairy tale.

“It’s over,” she said calmly.

“Y-yes, ma’am. We can see that.”  Revolver replied quietly.

Teal Spike cleared his throat. “We hope you view our...  indiscretions with the forethought you always show, Madam Governor. As I told your Senator, a job’s a job.

“Quite right,” she nodded. “And I hold nothing against hard workers, even  mercenaries .  But , if any of you attack my Senators with malicious intent again, I will find you and you will pay. Am I understood?”

“Oh, absolutely,” the cowgirl said, tipping her hat. “That said,” she turned to Rick,” Copper Tarnish, Tarn if I may, you’re a hell of a good fighter and I don’t know what  ya got makes ay turn gold, but I had a good time  goin up against  ya! And when  ya get a little higher in level, I may just challenge  ya to a duel every now and again. But in the meantime, I’ll send  ya my info. Come watch me fight from the gallery some day!” She set to work, sending Rick her information.

“Well, I don’t quite feel the same,” Teal Spike said “but we  are mercenaries so if you need any assistance, in your  territory battles for  instance , don’t hesitate to call. Our rates are quite low.”

“We’ll certainly keep you in mind.” Seraph said graciously. 

Just then, the timer reached zero and Rick heard a chime ring as flaming words shot across his view. YOU WIN! Then, his yes nearly popped out of his head. The sheer number of burst points he was receiving was mind boggling! Not only did he meet the  300-point requirement, he almost got enough points to get o level 3!

“But...how? I didn’t beat anyone!”

Crystal Seraph stifled a laugh. “But you did. You were part of my team, and my team was able to defeat a level 4 and level 8. So yes, you earned every one of those points.” She  turned to the two mercs, who were about  to log out.

“And I would like to two of you to spread the word, if you please.”

“Yes?” Teal  Spike asked.

“I am now the Governor of  Manhattan . From the northside of Central Park at 1120 th street, all the way south, at Battery Park. All of it is now my Crystal Conclave.”

“That’s almost the entire borough!”  Raspberry Revolver gasped.

Seraph only nodded, sagely.

“We will certainly let others know,”  Spike replied, sounding awed.

“You two saw our  attack power,” she continued. “What happened today was only a taste. We will only get stronger from here. Let the Accelerated World know.”

Revolver nodded. “You got it ma’am.” The two burst linkers  logged out.

It was dead silent for a second before Viper piped up. “What the hell just happened?”


	14. Chapter 14 and Epilogue

Rick slowly came back to himself, sitting on the small sofa in Sam’s study, each of his hands clasped in the hand of the girl next to him. The last half hour, which had passed in less than two seconds, seemed like a dream, astounding and amazing. Quickly, he let go of the hands he held as he felt the girls stir.

“It’s all right,” Sam moaned as she stretched. “I don’t bite.”

Rick smiled. It was the same thing she had said to him when she wanted him to sit next to her on the stage earlier that week.

“Yeah,” Lisa said, “and even if she  did, you’d take it, cause she’s our Governor now.”

Sam shook her head. “That’s only in the Accelerated World. Out here, we’re just regular middle school students.

Rick snickered. “Normal nothing! You’ll be a tennis pro in two years!”

“I don’t know  what may happen in the next two years. Besides, in the Accelerated World, two years is a very long time.  So, for now, we remain as we have been.”

“How did you know?” Rick suddenly blurted. “About the Heart of Gold?”

Sam smirked. “Remember when I told you about my  Heart Gaze ability? Well, it allows me to see  _ into _ an opponent. That includes what’s inside your inventory. An inventory, I might add, that you never checked!”

Rick felt himself blush slightly. “Well, I mean... uh... I was a new character at level 1. I didn’t think I could START with something in my inventory.

“Didn’t I tell you, you needed to know your avatar inside and out?” Lisa asked poking him in the rib cage.

“Dos that include checking an inventory that shouldn’t - you know what? You’re right. That ones on me.” Rick huffed, crossing his arms. He knew he wasn’t going to win  that argument. “It won’t happen again.”

Sam let out a girlish laugh and the two friends turned to look at her. “Something funny, sis?” Lisa asked.

“It’s just, you two argue like a brother and sister, you know?” She held back another laugh. “I just find it more amusing when it's not  my brother and sister!” Rising from the sofa, she  stretched her legs. “Can I get anyone something to drink?”

Two minutes later, they sat around the living room table, each in their own chair. Each had a glass of ice tea and after each took a long gulp and let out a sigh, Sam put her glass down.

“Welcome to the first official meeting of the newest Legion in the Accelerated  World , the Crystal Conclave.”

Rick  raised an  eyebrow . “That’s our name?”

“You don’t like it?”

HE shrugged. “Oh, I’m good with anything, just so long as I know it’s us.”

“Well, it’s not official yet.” Sam said. “Check your emails. The entry  application has just been sent.”

The two reconnected to the global net and sure enough, there was long, multi-paged contract they had to confirm. Both read it – or most of it  anyway \- and clicked the “AGREE” button.

“And now,” Sam said happily, you no longer have to disconnect from the global net! As long as you’re in  Manhattan , south of 110 th street, you know have the right to refuse duels!”

Both Lisa and Rick breathed out heavy sighs of relief.

“Now then,” she looked at Rick, “let’s all hear about your unique Enhanced Armament.”

“Uh...” Rick  stammered .

Lisa sighed. “You can access the Brain Burst Options Menu  from your desktop and check your inventory and avatar status as long as  you're connected to the global net.”

Sheepishly, Rick did as she said, not knowing it was an option. Checking his character status, he saw he had more than enough burst points to get to level 2, but decided to do that later. Instead, he opened his inventory and clicked on the only thing in it; on his AR screen it  appeared as a little gold ball with a red and green flashing light in the center. 

He clicked the icon and a description appeared in a text box “Let's see... Heart of Gold... Transforms an avatar from Copper Tarnish into Gold Virtue. Change attacks and abilities... blah, blah... ah! ‘Uses a full Special Attack gauge to activate, can only be used once a week and only when under twenty-five percent health’, that sucks,” he commented, “‘Once used, restores health back to twenty-five percent.’ Seems like a last-ditch desperation type thing if you ask me.”

“But incredibly useful,” Sam commented. “Aside from the three of us, nobody else knows of these limitations. You could certainly use that to your  advantage .”

“Well yeah, but only the three of us even know about in in the first place.” he pointed out. 

Lisa groaned. “You moron! Two mid-level avatars fought you! While you were using that Enhanced  Armament ! You  really don’t think they’ll tell anyone about a copper avatar with the ability to turn into a golden on  in the middle of a fight? I mean, you’re only level 1 and you managed to hold off a level 4 AND a level 5  on your own !” 

“I’m guessing that’s... not normal?”

“NO, IT’S NOT NORMAL!” Lisa shrieked.

Sam simply laughed. “You’re sure not brother and sister?”

Rick blushed and took a swig of tea while Lisa fumed.

“Why don’t you level up?” Sam suggested.

“Yeah?” he perked up. “Didn’t know if now was the right time.”

“No time is better.”

Rick scanned the options available to his avatar. After confirming twice that, yes, he did want to level, three hundred burst points were deducted from his point total and a chime went off in the background.  All of his attributes rose slightly, but that wasn’t all.

On top of his avatar getting generally stronger, he had the choice to raise two of these same stats a little more, allowing him to specialize in specific stats. On top of that, he could select two from several options of both battle and static abilities, giving him many more options for customizations than he thought possible. Furthermore, it informed him that each ability came with  its own change when he used his  Heart of Gold item, though it wouldn’t tell him what they were until he used them.

In the end, he increased his HP and physical defense attributes a little more. He figured that if he was going to be Indigo Viper’s partner, he should cover her weaknesses, and while she had amazing speed and a multitude of attack options, she had crap for defenses. As for abilities, he decided to wait for a day or two to think about it. With all the ruckus his new Legion was about to make, it was an important choice.

After closing the Option Menu and closing the function, a thought occurred to him. “Sam, what was that attack you used to finish off Midnight Talon? It was amazing.”

“That was my ultimate attack, Prism Slash. It can instantly destroy an avatar and weakened enemy in the UNF.”

“Okay, uh... maybe I’m being ignorant, but why not open with that? I mean, once your Special Attack gauge was full, you could've  ended the fight.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that. First of all, there are several different types of special attacks. Your  Mega Arrow drains your entire gauge, but I have many different options that can empty various  amounts of mine. My Prism Slash, however, doesn’t use my Special Attack bar. In fact, if you recall, I used my  Crystal Chime to  completely refill  yours .” 

Rick nodded. That had surprised both him and his opponents.

“Normally,” she continued, “my Prism Slash can only be  activated under certain  lighting conditions in stages that are deemed as Holy, so under normal circumstances, I shouldn’t have been able to even use the attack in a Desert Stage.

“But I noticed your  Golden Radiance emits a powerful light; strong enough to blind a level 4 at level 1. It was just a guess but the light strongly resembled the l ight of the rising sun on the most holy of stages in the UNF. So, I held my breath and took a chance.”

Rick’s eyes bugged out of his head. “You took a chance!? In  that fight? You were relying on an ability I didn’t even know I had?””

She shrugged. “I improvised.”

“Get used to it,” Lisa said sighing. “She’s a quick thinker and does it all the time.”

“That’s another thing.” Rick said. “Why not tell me about my  Heart of Gold ? I  could've looked in my inventory and studied it while we were running to our destination. Instead, you were all cryptic about it...”

Sam sighed. “It’s your job to know what you can do in the Accelerated World Rick. You’re a burst linker now, so it’ sup to you to keep yourself sharp, to duel and raise your points on your own, to get better and stronger in order for the Conclave to grow in strength as well. I’m not going to micro-manage every detail of your development. As one of my Senators, I trust you to know what’s best for the Legion, and I’ll need you to help lead when we get new recruits.”

Rick head that term before. “And what is a Senator? What do they do?”

“They’re the top aides and officers of the Governors.” Lisa said.

Sam nodded. “And as such, you are given powers within the Legion. You can both recruit and expel members, though I must make the final call, of course. You’ll be authorized to take hunting parties into the Unlimited Neutral Field to  search for Enemies and go dungeon raiding and I will  always ask your advice  before a major operation. You’ll also lead the territory battles on Saturdays to defend our borders; we’re open on three sides you know.

“But most importantly, you are my most trusted advisors and friends. You’ll be the only Burst Linkers  wh o know who I am in the real. And should I promote another to a Senator Post, you’ll still have authority over them.”

“Wow...” Rick whispered. “That’s a lot of responsibility.”

“Almost every Senator in the Accelerated  World is level 7 or 8,” Lisa commented. “We probably won’t be taken very seriously at first.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about it much longer.” Sam said. “I have confidence in my Senators to silence anyone who doesn’t think they’re op to the task.” She looked at Rick “And as for the responsibility, you only think that  because we’re all thirteen. After a few weeks in the UNF, you won’t be thinking like a thirteen-year-old and the responsibility will feel natural.”

He nodded, even though he still worried about what the  long-term repercussions of prolonged stays in the UNF might mean. It was  certainly something he was going to research.

“Well, it’s nearly midnight,” Lisa said. “Let’s order a pizza and watch some movies!”

“Speaking of midnight, Midnight Talon; he’s a Senator?”

Sam nodded. “Advisor to Sliver Lupus. Do we have to worry about him again?” Rick asked.

“I’m about to increase my avatar to level 9, so I don’t think so, though he may hold a  personal grudge against us if his Governor punishes him. Just be wary, and  always disconnect your  neurolinker when leaving our land.”

Rick nodded in return. “Well, you guys have fun, but I  gotta go home. My  dad’ll be home in about two hours.”

Both girls turned t o look at him. “Why?” they asked unison.

“Why... what?”

Lisa shrugged. “Why go home? Stay over, like me!”

“Uh... huh?” Rick’s brain, which was still trying to process everything they had been discussing over the last several minutes, couldn’t seem to understand what Lisa was suggesting. “You mean... sleep over? Here? With you two?”

She leaned over her chair's armrest and bopped him on the head. “Uh, yeah, that’s exactly what I mean. Your dad’s a cool guy, so if you explain that it's for a school related assignment or something, he’ll be totally fine with it. I mean, technically, it is school  related .”

“Uh, no it isn’t.”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “Are we not  _ friends from school _ ?

“You are, but – I mean – it's just...” He couldn’t find the right words.

Sam let out a girlish giggle. It was one of the only things she’d done all night to remind Rick of her actual age. “It’s okay Rick. Sometimes, stretching the truth can be good.”

“But... but you’re both girls!” he stammered.

Lisa raised an eyebrow and turned to Sam. “You hear that? We’re girls.”

“Yeah, we’re girls,” she confirmed.

“We’re girls...” Lisa repeated thoughtfully.

“I have to say, in both our cases, there’s substantial evidence to prove that theory.” Sam said nonchalantly.

“I mean -” Rick butted in,  feeling more than a little flustered. What was going on here!? “It’s not right for a boy to stay over at a girl’s house?”

“Why not?” Sam asked. “Lisa and I will share the bed and you can sleep in my  sleeping bag on the floor. No problems.”

Lisa cracked her knuckles. “And I know for a fact that you know better than thinking you’ll be able to get away with anything... untoward.”

Rick gulped. “But... but, yeah,  you’re friends and I’d never try anything... you know, bad or anything like that,  ‘cause that's wrong, but like... Gah!” His brain was running at a million miles per second and an image of the two girls laughing and splashing each other in the shower flashed across  his mind, causing his brain to almost crash. Quickly, he grabbed a pillow and shoved his face into it.

“Oh dear,” Sam chided. “I do believe we’ve overloaded his brain and he had a dirty thought about one or both of us.”

Lisa’s eyes widened. “Oh, I hope that’s not the case.  ‘Cause if it is, Buster, you’re in for a  real world of hurt!”

“It wasn’t!” Rick blurted, face still in the pillow. “I mean, it isn’t! It won’t be! Gah!” 

This time, the image of the girls in flimsy nighties having a giggling pillow fight flashed across his mind’s eye. He forced his face deeper into the pillow and let out a scream.

Sam let out another girlish giggle. “Oh, I think we’re going to have fun tonight!”

EPILOGUE

Rick Billings was normal. Painfully, boringly normal.

Not the very day normal. More a “so normal you blend into the wall and wouldn’t be noticed even if you were on fire” type of normal. From the top of his dusty, brown hair, to the bottom of his feet, there existed only a solid, bland  appearance .

Except for his eyes.

They were a strange shade of blue green, his eyes. So different from the rest of him, they look awkwardly out of place. He tried to hide them with long bangs or keeping his head down; he was tired of people asking questions about them.

Well, all but one person.

Yes, he was still the epitome of normal, but as of now, he was going to try and change that. He had shot an email to a friend that morning, asking her to meet him, but  until he got the confirmations email from her, he wasn’t certain if she would show.

He sat waiting on the apron of the stage on the drama club’s homepage on the local school net, hoping against hope that he was making the right choice. It had been here that he’d had first real conversation with his Legion Master, his Governor and good friend Sam. Rick never had a good head when it came to social  situations but he liked to think meeting here would appeal to a girl you liked.

And then, there she was.

“Afternoon,” she chimed as she approached the stage, hands clasped behind her back.

Rick smiled. “Yes.  Yes, it is .”

“Lisa tells me you made it to level 3 last night.” she said, sitting next to him on the stage. “That’s impressive. It’s only been two weeks since you hit level 2. You’re going to get people talking again.”

Rumors were flying all over the Accelerated World about the mysterious Copper Tarnish that seemed to have the ability to change his metal from copper to gold. Nobody believed it until about five days before when he did it in a desperate situation against his rival Emerald Buckler. Then people  lost their  minds and he couldn’t stop getting hounded.

He was glad he had the right to refuse duels in his own  territory or he would’ve been exhausted!

Rick shrugged off the compliment. “I still had a lot of  points left over from the Midnight Talon fight, so that helped a lot. But I know the jump 3 to 4 is  gonna be a real pain.”

“And Emerald Buckler?”

“Oh, she’s pissed that I beat her to level 3. She started a week before I did, so she thought for sure she’d beat me there. Knowing my luck, she’s just  gonna skip level 3 and go right to 4.”

“She joined the Slip Circuit you know.” Sam said quietly. “Her parent is a member.”

He nodded. “Yeah, she told me. But that’s good! It means we can keep challenging each other. It wouldn’t  look too good if two folks in the same Legion kept  swapping points back and forth.”

“I agree.”

“She would’ve been a great  teammate though...”

“ Oh, yes?” Sam asked. “And the reason you asked me here?”

This snapped Rick back to reality. “Oh yeah! Uh, anyway, I wanted to ask you a question. A really important question, but... I don’t  really ... know how to ask...” He shook his head. “Man, I wish I was more like Gold Virtue. Suave, in  control , He’d know what to say.”

“Richard,” Sam said, using his full name. “You and  Gold Virtue  _ are  _ the same person. You know how I can tell?”

He shook his head.

“It’s your eyes.” she replied.

“My eyes?”

She nodded. “As Copper Tarnish, your mask obscures your eyes and not even lights appear where your eyes should be, as in some avatars. But when you transform into Gold Virtue,  your eyes become  visible .”

“What color are they?”

She pointed to him. “Aquamarine, just like in real life.”

He never knew that. True, he’d only transformed twice, but nobody had told him  that ! But knowing it seemed to bolster him, somehow. He  cleared his throat and tried again.

“So, uh... would you like to... uh... to go grab dinner and a movie some time?” He forced himself to ask. “I mean, we’ve already held hands and I spent the night at your place and all. Plus, you even gave me a kiss on the cheek, so I thought it  migh t be the next logical step, you know?”

Sam nodded.

“But if you think it’s a bad idea, as far as the Legion is concerned, then just forget I asked! I don’t want the  Conclave to gal apart because we’re dating or anything...”

“Dating?” she asked coyly.

“I mean... uh...”

Same gave him her dazzling smile and nodded. “That, Rick Billings, sounds like a  nice first date in the real world.”


End file.
